Every Student Needs a Teacher
by Auntleona0
Summary: Elena decides to explore her wild side after Stefan leaves town and solicits Damon to be her teacher. M for sexual content and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own less than a hobo who's lost his shopping cart**.

Four months ago, I had been happy. Four months ago, I knew exactly what I wanted out of life and who I wanted to spend it with. _Stefan_. I had ignored the fact that deep down I knew I was only in high school. I ignored that we were barely less typical than the average high school relationship. What we had together had been so intense and all encompassing, I had been positive it was true love. Had as in past tense.

As I walked down the steps, I tried to prevent myself from reflecting obsessively about my failed relationship with Stefan. It was too easy to fall into a pattern where all I could think about was how I lost my soul mate. Life had moved on, however, and there were always more important things to consider – like cereal. What to eat for breakfast this morning was a much more pressing issue than Stefan.

"Morning, Jenna," I greeted my aunt with false enthusiasm. I seated myself somewhat wearily on one of the kitchen chairs, propping my leg beneath my butt in an awkward position.

Jenna rushed around the kitchen looking frazzled. Her recently highlighted hair whipped around her face like a tornado as she reached for bowls and other utensils to feed me. Actually, Jenna looked more than frazzled she looked downright frenzied.

"Jenna?" I asked, concern seeping into my voice. "Are you okay?"

At the sound of my voice, Jenna finally stopped scrambling through the kitchen and turned to address me. She had barely opened her mouth when an enormous crash from inside the linen closet in the hallway interrupted her. Startled, I nearly fell out of my chair before looking back towards Jenna, my eyes as wide as saucers in my fright.

Instinctually, I reached for something that could be used as a weapon in the case of an attack. I knew it was unlikely that any real danger was in the house, but I had experienced too many near death experiences over the past year to not expect the worst. Actually, it had been months since anyone had tried to kill me or anyone in town. The year where rabid animals had reigned over Mystic Falls was over, and already the terror that had swept over the town was fading.

If there was one good thing about Stefan leaving – and I refused to admit that any good came of losing him – it was that all of the blood and gore left with him. With no vampires remaining in Mystic Falls – with the exception of Damon and Caroline – life had evened out. Normalcy was the norm again, and everyone had relaxed into new routines that did not involve worrying about surviving to see another day.

But now with the crash in the linen closet, my mind was on red alert, prepared for any number possible horrors to leap out of the closet and drag me away into the night.

"What was that?" I asked, standing up to investigate the cause of the commotion. I did not want to particularly go look, but I could not have Jenna walk into potential danger because I was too afraid to face it myself.

"Nothing! It was nothing!" Jenna practically shouted at me. "Please, Elena...Just…"

Before I had time to interpret Jenna's strange behavior, a man came tumbling out of the linen closet. A completely naked man. Frozen, I shot glances between Jenna and the man lying on the floor. He was attractive from what I could see of him. And what I could see was a whole lot of body and gray hair. His face was concealed by his awkward position sprawled on the floor. A wild thought ran through my head that I wished he would move his hands and conceal the less PG parts of himself instead.

"What the hell?" I asked. In all of the scenarios I had cooked up in my brain, naked man in the linen closet had not been one of them.

The man stood up, his hands immediately moving to cover his privates. Looking at him clearly, I was startled to realize he was fifty. He was an absolute silver fox. Despite his grey hair, I never would have expected a man with that body to be so old. At the moment, his mostly still wrinkle-free was twisted into a look of embarrassment. "Jenna?" he asked beseechingly.

"Elena, this is my friend Travis," Jenna said. Her face was the color of a tomato, and she was casting her eyes about the room avoiding eye contact with me. "He's just a friend."

This was not the first time I had been faced with my aunt's late-night excursions – although technically it was morning. What was disconcerting about the encounter was that the man before her was not Alaric. I had known they broke up following Isobel's sudden appearance at the house, but I had always assumed everything would fix itself in the end. Also, the guy was old. I admitted he was hot, but he was definitely at least twenty-five years older than Jenna.

"Elena, I'm so sorry. Travis is leaving," Jenna apologized.

"Not like that I hope," I replied awkwardly. Travis laughed quietly, but he looked if possible more nervous after my attempt at a joke.

Jenna was too flustered to appreciate the joke, and instead, with a look of mortification on her face, gestured to where a crumpled pile of men's clothing was laying on the ground. The man walked towards the clothing and the dimples in his butt seemed to wink at her as he moved.

"You know what, I will eat something on the way to school," I said wanting nothing more than to get out of their way as quickly as possible.

"No, you don't have to. There's plenty of cereal here," Jenna offered.

"Thanks, but I think I'll still leave now. Bye Jenna…Travis," I answered. As I walked towards the door, I peaked back to look at them. Travis had finally put some pants on, but his broad chest was pressed up against Jenna's back as he whispered soothingly in her ear.

I got into my car and began to drive into town. I needed a Denny's – no, an Ihop. I had earned Ihop. Jenna and Travis's apparent exploits in the kitchen had me thinking about sex, a subject I generally avoided at all costs. There had been a time where I was at ease with my sexual prowess but now not so much.

I had no doubts that Stefan loved me, and that when he left he really was trying to look out for my best interests. However, I also had no doubts that he and Katherine were fucking like rabbits across Europe at this point. Whether Stefan had asked Katherine to leave Mystic Falls with him or if she simply followed him out of town was a mystery to me. What was not a mystery was the fact that whether he had invited her or not, they were together now.

Deep down, I was harboring some significant doubts about why Stefan left. I knew at the end of the day that Stefan had left to protect me. When the Martins had died and Elijah had been buried with the white ash dagger securely lodged in his chest, there was no one left to betray me to Klaus. Stefan had sought by his leaving to shield me from the harsh scrutiny of various vampires we would inevitably run into as a couple. Secretly, I had always suspected that Katherine had threatened him as well. She was the remaining loose end in the doppelganger drama and the only person I did not trust to keep my secret. Her love of Stefan, though warped, was real enough for her to resort to intimidation in the hopes it would send him back into her arms.

My concern was that a part of Stefan may have wanted to leave me for Katherine all along. As honest as the love between me and Stefan had been, there was a level of energy between him and Katherine that we had lacked. And in the physical realm, there was so much more she could give him. After all, my sexual experiences had been basically limited to my couplings with Matt and Stefan. No one had ever taught me the adventurous aspects of sex, and I certainly had not been brave enough to research it on my own. Katherine undoubtedly had more tricks to please a man in bed.

As I parked my car in the Ihop parking lot, I could not help but wonder if my relationship with Stefan might not have ended if I held more sexual appeal.

Damon's POV

For the first time in a long time, I was considering obtaining employment. Or at the very least a fucking hobby. It was getting ridiculous how boring my life had become. In the past whenever this itch of normalcy had come over me, I would pack my belongings and head to a new locale without any consideration of who I was leaving behind. Mystic Falls was different, though. I had laid down roots here. More importantly, I could not bear to leave Elena, especially not after she had lost Stefan.

I was not delusional; I knew that Elena did not rank me as an equal to Stefan, however, I also knew if I left her last link to Stefan would be gone. I could not risk devastating her.

She had been so destroyed when Stefan had made his decision to leave Mystic Falls. When he had told her, she had merely grimaced, holding her pain in to avoid making Stefan feel guilty for his departure. The moment he had left, however, she had dissolved into a pathetic puddle of tears and self-loathing. How she could possibly blame herself for Stefan leaving was beyond me. Elena was an astounding mix of coy innocence and blatant femininity. In other words, Elena was pure and simple perfection.

Their relationship had suffered some rather dramatic highs and lows following Stefan's leaving. Sometimes she would show up at the boarding house desperate for a reminder of Stefan or comfort from a friend. On these days, I would sit with her in the library and tell her stories about historical events. Where I was when JFK died. Where I was when Wham broke up. The basics had been fairly well covered. I would cook her dinner, and we would eat my extravagant meals on the floor while we watched reality TV and crime dramas for hours. At one point, she would ultimately break down into hysterical tears – it happened every time – but she would let me hold her until she regained her composure.

Other days she was not so friendly. As often as she wanted to feel a connection to Stefan, Elena wanted to forget Stefan had ever stepped foot in Mystic Falls. She would lash out if I contacted her, and would ignore me whenever our paths crossed in public. Being snubbed by Elena was painful, but I understood that she was grieving and that it was not a true reflection on how she felt about me.

Honestly, I had no idea how she felt about me.

My musings on whether I could join a book club without sacrificing my manhood were interrupted by a knock on the door. Standing, I walked towards the door only to reveal Elena looking nervous as hell.

She was chewing on her bottom lip and her eyes were filled with a wild agitation that seemed out of place considering her usually calm demeanor. Elena was unbelievable. Her usually poker-straight hair was mussed from constantly running her fingers through the chocolate strands. Her cheeks were flushed from whatever had put her into such a state of excitement. I was hard pressed to remember a time I had ever wanted her more.

"Can I come in?" she asked timidly.

In response, I motioned for her to step inside, pausing to study her ass as she passed me. Delectable, as usual.

"What have I done to earn your company today?" I asked with a grin. A day with Elena was always less mundane. She gave me that little spark of purpose that was so hard to find elsewhere.

"I need to do this, Damon. I am tired of feeling one-upped," Elena rambled her voice rising in pitch and volume as she spoke. "You can't imagine what it is like? And I always do what I'm supposed to! To say to Hell with it and actually learn would be amazing!"

I stared at the beautiful girl before me, before coming to the obvious conclusion: Elena had gone completely insane. She had given no indication what could have caused this melt-down in any of the previous times I had seen her.

"Elena," I began cautiously, "the ending of _Inception_ made more sense than you are right now. Tell me what's going on."

She swallowed hard, a lump appearing in her throat, before she explained, "Damon, ever since Stefan left I have been thinking about what was missing in our relationship. And I realized that there are a lot of things I still do not…know."

"I'm still not following," I said.

"Damon, I want to know more about sex. I want you to teach me about sex," Elena answered him.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" I demanded.

"Damon…"

"Don't interrupt me, Elena," I ordered clenching my jaw. I knew my expression displayed the extent of my fury and how close I was to losing control. "What are you trying to do to me? What could have possibly possessed you to ask me that?"

Elena sighed loudly in annoyance. Then, she said, "First, I would appreciate if you stop yelling at me. Second, I told you, I want to learn. I feel…repressed, yes, repressed is the right word. I want to try something new."

"And you decided," I began slowly, "that I had missed my calling of being a teacher and that I have nothing better to do than explain to you the birds and the bees."

"You're not exactly doing much these days, Damon. And I think you've misunderstood me. I…" Elena faltered clearly steeling herself to finish her sentence, "I don't want you to teach me, I want you to show me."

I could not summon up words. What she was suggesting was simultaneously the sexiest and worse idea ever. My cock had started to stir the moment she had said the word sex. Actually asking me to fuck her had me as hard as a steel rod. My overwhelming attraction to her did not change the fact that I owed more to Elena. Taking advantage of her vulnerability would make me evil. Yeah, I was evil sometimes, but not with Elena. Never with Elena.

"Please, Damon. Say something," Elena whispered her cheeks flushed crimson with embarrassment.

When I finally spoke, my voice was rough and throaty, "Are you suggesting we sleep together?"

"Yes."

"If you wanted to get in my pants, you don't have to make up such an elaborate scenario," I tried to joke but my delivery held barely a glimmer of my typical snarkiness.

I slapped myself mentally for my attempt at a joke. Why I felt the need to draw this out so awkwardly was beyond me. I should have outright refused and kicked her out by now. Actually, I realized I had yet to really tell her no.

"Damon, please be serious. This has nothing to do with wanting to sleep with you. There is no one else who I would be comfortable learning from. Would you rather I find someone else?"

I blinked repeatedly shocked by how unfair Elena was being. With just a few sentences, she had been able to bruise my ego by suggesting she did not actually desire to sleep with me specifically, threatened me, and manipulated my feelings. That was what chafed the most. Elena knew the hold she had over me, the girl was not stupid. Here she was unapologetically manipulating that hold to get what she wanted, and I didn't like it.

"No, Elena, I don't want you trying to pick up men to fuck you, but are you really so comfortable with me? What would baby brother think?" I asked.

Elena visibly flinched at the mention of Stefan but did not let his words faze her. Instead, she answered, "It's just sex, Damon."

"Just sex? We seem to have switched roles here. Shouldn't I be trying to seduce you while you argue that sex is a sacred act between two people that share an emotional connection?"

"Don't you think we share an emotional connection, Damon?" Elena asked. In that moment, I thought I was going to pass out. Elena was playing the part of the coquette masterfully with her lower lip pouted outwards and her eyelashes lowered seductively. As she spoke, she moved closer to me, eliminating the careful distance I had kept between our standing bodies since our conversation had started.

I do not believe I could have moved if I wanted to. I was paralyzed by lust. It was a first, and I was not particularly happy about the effect she had on me. Something about her expression had reminded me of Katherine. It was the sheer sensuality of her gaze, the needy way she looked at me in the hopes that I would bend to her will. Unfortunately, it was not going to work. My reasoning not my dick was still in control of my body, although I was not sure how long that was going to last.

My limited resolve shattered when she whispered, "Damon, I want this."

She was breaking me down. Too many times I had dreamed of Elena begging me to take her, but this situation had never occurred to me. Her neediness was breathtaking and was a contradiction in and of itself. Neediness implied she was under my control, but the lust her desire stirred within me caused me to crumble into an even more pitiable pile of lust than she was. Every time she pouted her lower lip, I was reminded of how much I would love to nibble on it.

I was not sure whether I should, or even could, continue to deny her. If she made that sexy face at me again, all bets were off.

I could not take her threat of finding someone else to satisfy her cavalierly either. It would not be hard for someone as delicious as Elena to find a stranger to take her to bed. All sorts of perverts could corrupt my beautiful angel, and I would be damned if I would allow that to happen. If there was going to be any corruption, it would be done by me.

There was the crux of the matter. If Elena was adamant on learning the intricacies and wild side of sex, I wanted her to be safe. Even more so, I simply wanted her. I could compel her to give up on this crazy scheme, but the demon part of me was growling at me to stop being such a pussy already. We should have been wrapping up round one by this point, not still hemming and hawing over whether or not it is a good idea.

"Elena, are you sure?" I asked.

Elena gave me a look that made it clear she thought I was insane, "Of course I'm not sure. This is the most ridiculous idea I have ever had. But I want it. And I am not going to change my mind."

"Alright then. Let's do this."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter is seriously rated M. There's nothing too atypical but there is a good 3,000 words of smut here.**

I had not been prepared for the tidal wave of emotion that hit me when Damon agreed to help me. I could not decipher if it was a rush of excitement or dread. Either way, this was my choice, and after the ridiculous amount of effort it took to convince him, there was no way I was backing out now.

Throughout our conversation, we had been standing somewhat awkwardly in the space between the entrance to the house and the living room. Damon made the first move by turning on his heel and walking further into the house without so much as a glance in my direction.

"Wait," I called, "Where are you going?"

Damon turned around in order to cock an eyebrow at me and grinned, "Did you expect me to just knock you on the floor and fuck you senseless? I mean, if you want to I'm game. I just thought you would be more comfortable in a bed to start off."

"Oh, um, yes, a bed would be better," I agreed.

Without being able to see myself, I could pretty much guarantee I had never blushed so much in my life. I could not begin to explain the thought processes that had led me to decide having sex with Damon was a good idea. I am not sure I had thought at all. I stood by my decision that if I wanted to learn, which I did, Damon was the best man for the job. A high school boy would have little more experience than I would, and a random adult would be creepy. Damon was exactly what I was looking for, so I needed to suck it up and go for it.

Damon smirked at me before nodding his head in the direction of the stairs. Taking the hint, I followed him as we ascended the stairs towards his room.

It was astonishing how quickly his entire demeanor had shifted since he had agreed to our arrangement. During our conversation, he had seemed to cycle repeatedly through three stages – shock, hesitance, and disapproval. I had been the aggressor. Now, his entire posture hinted at what was so easy for me to forget: Damon was a predator.

He walked into his bedroom first, and I stood hesitantly in the doorway, unsure of what to do with myself. Damon chuckled huskily at my hesitance and motioned for me to sit on the bed with him. I was hyper aware of our close proximity considering what I knew would be happening soon. His eyes were bright and his overall expression could almost be described as a leer.

"Tell me, Elena, has a guy ever gone down on you before," he asked.

"Yes," my voice came out in a shaky whisper.

He took my hand in his own and began to rub circles into my palm. A casual observer would think the gesture was soothing, but it was doing crazy things to my heart rate.

"Have you ever used sex toys?"

"No. Why are you asking me this?" I demanded somewhat confused by the direction he was taking.

Damon replied, "You want me to teach you, right? How am I supposed to teach you if I do not know what you want to learn? Will you answer my questions?"

I nodded, agreeing that it made sense.

"Now, have you ever had anal sex?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Relax," he soothed, "it's just a question."

"I do not want to learn about that," I protested alarmed at the notion that Damon planned to do…that. I definitely wanted the wilder side of sex but the stigma that went along with anal sex was firmly planted in my brain. I was not comfortable with the idea of exploring something so taboo.

"It is okay if you don't want to try that out now, but maybe somewhere along the line you will change your mind," Damon told me with a look that indicated he thought I would put up no fight if and when he did set out to change my mind. "Next question, do you masturbate?"

"Damon! You cannot just ask a person that!" I shrieked. His questioning was getting way too personal.

"Some would argue you can't just walk into a man's house on a Friday afternoon and ask him to be your sex toy because they are all bought out at Spencer's either. That did not stop you," Damon argued, amused by my reaction.

"I am not asking you to be my sex toy!" I argued, horrified by the way he had put it, "We can do this professionally."

"Professionally?"

"I don't know. It can be clinical like an experiment you would do in a laboratory. Do you understand? I don't think I am explaining myself clearly. We can be detached and just…research our findings," I explained.

"Is this your way of telling me you have a sexy scientist fantasy you want to play out?"

"No, I am just trying to explain that I am not using you for your body. I am using you for your experience. There is no need to get so involved. We have sex. You tell me how I can improve. We go about our lives as normal," I said sternly.

Damon stared at me with an incredulous look on his face before saying, "Sweetie, you really are naïve if you think there's going to be anything collected about this. I am going to make you lose your fucking mind."

I swallowed hard at his statement making a comical gulping noise. Any other time, Damon would have laughed, but not now. Now, Damon's eyes were on fire. It was beautiful, and it was dangerous. His hand reached out to stroke my hair over my shoulder. In the same motion, he pulled my cardigan and tank top down revealing my bare shoulder. His fingers brushed gently across my skin, and I felt suddenly woozy from the cool sensuality of his movements.

Damon trailed his fingers from my shoulders down my sides to the bottom of my shirt. Painstakingly slowly, he removed my cardigan and tank top one inch at a time. My breathing was becoming erratic from the feeling of his fingers ghosting over my skin. I wanted him to touch me, truly touch me.

"Stand up," he ordered.

Following his instructions, I stood before him in my jeans and bra. He observed me with an appreciative gaze, and I nearly trembled at how his eyes scanned over each part of me. Making eye contact with me, he reached out to unbutton and remove my jeans. His hands moved to my hips where he gently rubbed circles into my skin. I found myself desperately wishing he would break eye contact with me. It was too much.

Without warning, he spun me around and yanked me down so that I was sitting in his lap. Damon kissed my shoulder, sweeping his tongue seductively up my neck. His hands moved from my hips to brush against the fabric along the top of my panties. I made a small whimper of anticipation at his movement, and he responded with a low chuckle in my ear.

"Do you feel detached right now, Elena?" He murmured, rubbing me over my panties. "Is your mind focused on something else as I play with you?"

I whimpered again and rubbed myself downward against his hand. Damon slipped the hand that had been stroking me inside my underwear and began to rub against my clit furiously causing me to arch my back against him due to the sheer force of the sensation. His other hand moved to roughly grope my bra clad breasts. He alternated between circling my nipple and pinching it lightly, which released waves of pleasure that shot straight downward.

"Please," I cried, desperate for anything Damon had to give me.

I could picture him smirking behind me as I begged for him, but he was building me up so high I could care less at the moment about his oversized ego. His ego was not the only thing oversized either, judging by the hardness that was pressing against me while I writhed in his lap. Feeling slightly devious, I purposefully rubbed myself downwards against his erection, eliciting a groan from Damon.

"There is nothing professional about this," he hissed in my ear before finally plunging two of his fingers inside of me.

I almost climaxed on the spot, his fingers felt so wonderful inside of me. He moved his fingers in and out of me at a steady pace never neglecting my clit, which he continued to rub with his thumb. Our position was not ideal for the activity we were engaging in, but he was still managing to hit spots within me that were impossible for me to reach on my own. Never breaking his rhythm with his middle finger, he pulled his index finger out of my wet heat.

"What are you…?" I tried to ask before he turned my face roughly to the side and silenced me with a kiss.

The kiss was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Of course, Stefan and I had exchanged countless beautiful kisses where we could feel the love shining between us. While I was sure Damon cared for me too, this was not a kiss about love. This kiss was filled with animal passion, and I found myself thrusting my tongue into his mouth with reckless abandon, desperate for something I could not name. He growled into my mouth, nipping at my lower lip, and I moaned right back nearly overwhelmed by the intensity of the kiss above and what his finger was still doing below.

I moved my hand upwards to hold his face, sucking ferociously on his upper lip. He stopped caressing my breast and instead took my free hand in his, lowering it downwards until it rested on my leg. Confused, I broke the kiss and stared down at where our hands were intertwined. Carefully, he manipulated my hand so that one of my fingers was positioned at my entrance along with his still thrusting middle finger. Still controlling my movements, he pushed my finger forward so that both of our fingers were firmly lodged within me.

"Oh god," I moaned.

"Move with me," he whispered in my ear, moving his free hand back to my breast so that I could move my finger naturally.

Together we found a rhythm that left me breathless. I could guarantee I had never been so wet in my life; my finger was completely coated in layer after layer of my body's juices. Propositioning Damon to be my teacher had been an ingenious idea. We had barely started, and I was already learning. I had been fingered before, and I had masturbated before, but never before had I thought to combine the two.

About a minute later, I felt myself sliding over the edge into an orgasm that left me panting with pleasure. I moved my finger frantically within myself in order to strengthen my release. I threw my head backwards into his shoulder and groaned. The pleasure was so intense it was almost excruciating.

"Now… are you feeling detached?" he whispered in my ear.

I could not even form a response, so I settled for twisting my body around so that I was facing him and wrapped my arms around his neck. Immediately, he moved forward to capture my lips in another passionate kiss. His tongue traced the edge of my lips before he pulled away.

He suddenly resituated our bodies on the bed so that I was lying flat on the bed with him hovering over me. With no hesitation, he reached behind me to remove my bra from my body. Damon took a moment to stare appreciatively at my exposed breasts, brushing his fingers against my pebbled nipples. Damon moved his mouth to my neck and began to sweep a trail down my body to my breasts. He only spent a few moments teasing each nipple by tapping it with the underside of his tongue, before he teasingly moved further down my body.

"I know you said you have already done this, but you're just so wet, Elena. I hope you do not mind, but I want a little taste before we continue," Damon murmured sensually against the skin of my navel.

Feeling him smirk against my stomach made me sigh with pleasure. Pleased, Damon continued his path down my stomach until he reached my underwear. Grinning like the devil, which I was beginning to think he was, Damon used his teeth to slowly drag my panties part way down my legs. He used his hands to fully remove them, but the sight of him using his teeth to…oh god, I was losing my mind. He was sex personified.

I was completely unprepared for the sensation of Damon using his tongue on my pussy. He licked right up my folds causing me to buck my hips expectantly. He circled my clit teasing me like he had teased my nipples earlier, and I let out a growl. An actual growl! And the bastard had the nerve to just laugh, which admittedly felt heavenly since it caused my clit to vibrate, but was still annoying. I was getting angry, I wanted his tongue clamped on my clit, and I wanted it now. Before I could give him a piece of my mind, he wrapped his mouth around my sensitive nub and sucked on it with so much force that I shrieked.

He moved his tongue away from my clit causing me to groan slightly. God, I was so close, if only he had stayed at my clit for just a few more moments. Damon began to thrust his tongue in and out of my opening. The feeling of his tongue inside of me sent chills racing down my spine. I arched my back off the bed trying to force his tongue even deeper inside of my body.

Damon, to my dismay, pulled his face away from my pussy and said, "You taste so goddamn good, baby. Don't worry, I know what you need. I am going to let you cum. And you are going to cum hard."

Without further ado, Damon latched onto my clit with wild abandon, rubbing the sensitive flesh between his tongue and lips. True to his word, he made me cum hard. It was the most intense orgasm of my life; I could not remember a time where I had experienced more pleasure. All of my senses seemed to dull to make way for the overwhelming bliss that swept through my arching body. I could not see. I could not hear. I could not think. All I knew was that I never wanted this feeling to end.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes 'all good things must come to an end', and Damon released my clit letting me relax into the bed. Nothing was said between us as I lay panting on the bed trying to slow my racing heart.

"So," Damon said after about five minutes had passed, "are you ready for your first lesson?"

"That wasn't a lesson?" I gasped breathlessly. Even with the recovery time, I was still breathing heavily from the magnitude of my orgasm.

"Did you learn anything? Besides the fact that I can make you cum like a bursting dam?" Damon asked amused.

I shook my head no. He was trying to kill me! I barely had the energy to breathe – yes that was how pathetic I was – and he wanted to fuck me. I needed a little more recovery time than that.

"Don't worry," Damon reassured me, seemingly reading my mind, "We are not going to have actual sex yet. I am easing you into this."

"Then what are we doing?" I asked him nervously.

Damon smirked before removing his pants and boxers with inhuman speed. Three seconds later, he was lying down on the bed, his gorgeous cock standing straight up at attention. And it was gorgeous for a penis. Generally, I did not find the male anatomy that attractive to look at, but he was so thick and large that I immediately conjured up fantasies of how it would feel inside of me. Damon allowed me to ogle for a few more moments before motioning to his cock.

"Sweetie, suck me off," he ordered his voice firm and sexy as hell.

After the life altering orgasm he had given me, I was suddenly nervous about returning the favor. It would be extremely anticlimactic if I could not bring him to climax – no pun intended. Hesitant to actually try, I searched my mind for a good argument as to why I could not possibly suck him off.

"I have given head before. I know how to do that," I mumbled.

"I'm sure you're a real pro at it, too, but practice makes perfect. Besides, after the sexy show you put on earlier I need my own release," Damon purred, "and I would absolutely love if it was your hot mouth that made me cum."

That did it for me, and I agreed with a shaky, "Okay."

"Just do whatever feels natural, and I will coach you through it," Damon instructed, leaning backwards on his elbows to watch as I slithered down his body.

Not wanting to waste time, I wrapped my lips around the head of him and sucked, letting my tongue massage his flesh. Damon moaned passionately, and I knew he had not been expecting me to go for it so quickly. Starting to get into it, I moved my mouth upwards to take in even more of his length and began to bob my head up and down on his cock.

"Elena…shit, that's fantastic, just…" Damon mumbled incoherently.

I felt a burst of womanly pride rush through me at his ramblings. I was reducing Damon Salvatore into a man so consumed by lust he babbled like an idiot. In that moment, I had never felt sexier or more desirable.

"Elena, do you know what my scrotum is?" Damon asked.

"Mmmhmm," I answered around his cock making him moan.

"Good, just swirl the tip of your tongue along my ball sack," Damon coached me, "Then lick my testicles like an ice cream cone."

This was new to me. During oral sex I had never paid much attention to a boy's balls before. I remembered Tyler joking about how an underclassmen, Tammy, was a baller a few years ago and how those girls were the best. I was somewhat sad to realize that I had never used my mouth on Stefan's testicles; I had not done everything to bring him pleasure.

Putting sad thoughts of Stefan out of my mind, I began to lick at his testicles with long strokes. I moved one of my hands up to his shaft and jerked him off slowly while I continued licking him.

"God, Elena, that's so good. Now tighten your lips and suck on the skin there."

I sucked on the skin of his testicles before deciding I wanted to surprise him. Without waiting for more instructions, I took one of his balls all the way into my mouth and laved him with my tongue. From there I continued to switch between the different methods Damon had taught me, all the while jerking him off with my hand.

Damon was coming completely undone beneath my mouth. When I had sucked on his balls, he had let out a shout like he had been burned. Judging by the way he kept moaning in ecstasy, I was fairly confident that he was not shouting in pain.

I released his cock from my grip and moved my mouth back to his shaft. I was not that successful at my past attempts at deep throating, but I was sure it was not going to take that long for Damon to cum regardless. I moved my mouth further up his shaft, and Damon's hand came down to tangle in my ear.

"Relax your throat, sweetheart," Damon told me softly, his voice simultaneously strained and tender.

His cock slid further into my mouth, and I moaned appreciatively. The vibrations from my moan set him off almost immediately. Damon's cum shot down my throat, and I struggled to swallow all of it with his cock still deep in my mouth.

I released him from my mouth and peered up at him to gauge his reaction. His chest was heaving, and his eyes were pressed firmly shot. He certainly looked like he had enjoyed it. The end with me trying to swallow had been a little awkward, but I thought overall it had been a successful lesson.

"So, Damon, how was I?" I asked one part curious another part insecure.

"Baby, if I had a journal, I would write a hundred pages about that," Damon replied immediately.

His eyes opened to meet mine, and he looked absolutely beautiful. He looked so happy and well pleased. Well pleased because I had pleased him.

"Are you sure? Because at the end I…" I began to argue.

Damon laughed cutting me off, "I should have warned you so you could prepare yourself. In the future you won't have as much trouble. And the reason I did not warn you was that you were doing such a mind-blowingly good job I forgot my own name."

"Oh," I said surprised by his praise, "well I'm glad."

Damon reached down to pull me into his arms, and he held me against his chest for a moment. I laid my head against him and breathed in deeply. While asking for him to teach me had been nerve wracking, I was fairly certain this had been the best idea of my life.

"You never took your shirt off," I mumbled, realizing he still had his button up firmly in place.

"I was in a hurry," he commented, "but don't worry, I will take it off next time."

The idea of a next time had my stomach doing back flips in anticipation. I had not known this much pleasure was humanly possible. I would probably be counting down the hours until I could have him again.

After a few minutes I asked, "Why do men like it when women swallow anyway? Does it feel better?"

The entire purpose of our rendezvous was so that I could learn about sex. I figured we could map out something similar to a lesson plan. He gives me instruction which we put to practical use, and then afterwards, I ask him any questions still on my mind. I probably should not refer to it as a lesson plan out loud though considering his reaction the last time I told him we could deal with this professionally. I shuddered remembering the full extent of his reaction. Maybe, I should tell him…

Damon answering my question brought me back to reality, "Swallowing does not particularly feel better. It is more that it looks good. Men are visual. Do you have any idea how hot it is for me to watch you suck me dry? Your pouty red lips wrapped around my cock had to be the sexiest thing I have ever seen."

I nodded, his answer made sense. After all, I had found it incredibly arousing to watch him suck on me earlier.

"If you like, the next time we try out oral, I can show you different ways where you don't have to swallow," Damon offered.

"It was not that bad," I reassured him. I was more annoyed at my lack of skill than the actual act itself. It was kind of hot to swallow Damon's release. It seemed erotic and naughty. I had not had many naughty moments in my life; I could use some more.

"Still," Damon pressed, "the point is to try different things. We can try everything."

"Okay," I agreed sleepily, "I think I am going to head home for the night."

Damon glanced at the clock next to his bed, "It's only 7 o'clock on a Friday. Did you even go to school today?"

"I came here after school let out; I don't have a class fifth period. And I know that it is early, but I am exhausted. Also, I had this really weird experience with Jenna this morning, and I don't want her to think I am avoiding her," I answered him as I climbed out of bed.

He watched me as I collected my clothes from around the room and dressed myself. At first I thought he was staring at me lewdly while I changed, but a glance at his face revealed he was deep in thought.

"Do you need a ride home?" he asked me.

"No, I drove my car here. Don't worry about it. I will see you later, Damon," I told him, ready to leave.

"Good bye, Elena," he said softly.

I left the boarding house and arrived home without incident. To my relief, Jenna was not home so I did not have to deal with the aftermath of our run in this morning. Even though I told Damon I did not want Jenna to think I was avoiding her, I was. She and Ric had a good relationship before Isobel screwed it up. I cared about both of them, and it made me sad that both of them were trying to find happiness without the other.

I do not understand how people can be so blind when the person they are meant to be with is standing right beside them, I thought.

After the excitement of my day, I fell asleep almost the instant my head hit the pillow. That night I dreamed of nothing tangible or even describable, but it was beautiful.

My sleep was interrupted the next morning by the shrill blaring of my ringtone. I reached lazily for my cell phone and sat up to answer the call. Glancing at the screen, I saw the call was from Caroline.

"What's up?" I answered.

"Hey, Elena, I'm sorry, but I need to cancel our lunch plans," Caroline told me with barely concealed excitement.

Caroline sounded too happy to be truly sorry, so I asked, "Why are you cancelling?"

"Oh God, Elena, I'm so excited. Becca told me that she and Chad are going to the movies with Matt around two, so I thought I could show up and join them. Becca's in on it, so I will be on a double-date with Matt in four hours!"

"Caroline," I said, "you can't do that."

"Why not?" I could hear an edge of defensiveness creep into her still happy tone.

"Because he wants nothing to do with you, Caroline. He wants nothing to do with any of us."

Telling Matt the truth about vampires had been a hasty decision that had cost all of us our relationships with Matt. Even with the assurance that Caroline had not been involved with Vicky's death, Matt could not forgive her. Whether she had been aware of the circumstances surrounding Vicky's demise or not, Caroline had kept a monumental secret from him by hiding the fact that she was a vampire. His ire had particularly been aimed at me. I had owed Matt the truth. If I was being the good friend he deserved, I would have told him about Vicky instead of covering it up. Even worse was my continued relationship with Stefan and Damon. That was a betrayal Matt could not forgive, and we had barely spoken in months.

Silence reigned over the line. I felt awful for crushing Caroline's cheerful mood, but we owed it to Matt to respect his wishes. If Caroline went after Matt, she would only have her heart broken again. It was in the best interest of everyone involved for Matt and Caroline to stay far away from each other.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Caroline said brokenly after about a minute had passed.

"I know," I agreed.

Caroline let out a noise similar to a growl before continuing, "Damn straight. None of this is my fault, and I'm tired of him blaming me for it. If you are my friend, Elena, you will fix this."

I blinked rapidly shocked by the progression of the conversation. For a moment I had been almost certain Caroline was going to cry, but instead she was yelling at me over the phone. In a way this represented the change in Caroline ever since she had become a vampire. As a human, Caroline would have cried over her misfortune and annoyed the hell out of everyone around her. As a vampire, Caroline took action and actively went after what she wanted. When what she wanted interfered with your life, it was still annoying.

"How am I supposed to do that?" I protested, drawing a blank on how I could possibly regain Matt's trust when he usually refused to talk to me.

"I don't care how you do it as long as it's done," Caroline snapped. "I think I will go to lunch. You are right, Matt would be unhappy to see me, but I will be going with Bonnie. You will be figuring out a way to fix my relationship with Matt."

I sighed but knew there was no point in arguing, "I will try my best, Caroline."

"Good, call me with updates. Love you, bye," she said, her tone reflecting her improved mood.

"Bye."

I groaned and threw my head backwards onto the pillows. Matt may be mad at Caroline, but he was furious with me. How could I convince Matt to forgive Caroline when he blamed me for the death of his sister?

From a distance, I had watched Matt over the last few months and hated myself for what I saw. Matt was completely alone; he was isolated from all of the people he had once held close. The truth had added my name to a long list of people Matt had cared about who had abandoned him – his parents, Vicky, Tyler, Caroline, and now me.

I did not need this in my life right now, but I wanted Matt to be happy. A reconciliation with Caroline might be just the thing to pull Matt out of his depression.

With a newfound sense of purpose, I dialed Matt's number hoping he would not screen my call. I tapped my fingers impatiently against my leg as the phone rang once, twice, three times.

After the fourth rang, Matt answered the phone, "What?"

"Matt, I want to talk to you."

"I'm sorry, Elena, but I don't really want to hear what you have to say right now," he answered gruffly.

"Please, Matt, I just want to talk. Can we meet someplace? Maybe the Grille?"

"Fine," Matt said with a weary voice, "but not the Grille. I spend all day working there, I don't want to spend my free time there, too. Besides, it's kind of a mess. They are still doing construction to fix the damage from the fire…"

When he paused, I knew Matt's mind had drifted to the night of the fire at the Grille when Jonas attacked. The night his world fell apart.

"That's great. We can meet wherever you like," I agreed, pleased that he was willing to meet with me.

"Chad invited me out with him, so how about five o'clock at the Italian place off the highway?"

"Sounds fantastic, see you then."

Matt did not bother to reply before breaking the connection. Just because he did not laugh in my face did not mean all was forgiven, but it was a start. I could work with that.

Needing a distraction, I closed my eyes and thought back to the night before with Damon. It had easily been the most erotic experience of my life, and we had not even had sex. I wanted him again after only twelve hours. He had been right; while my mind was still detached, my body had clearly not gotten the memo. There was nothing professional about the tingling feeling I got just thinking about him touching me again. We had not set up a time for us to meet again, but my gut feeling told me he would not mind if I showed up unannounced.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. This is my first story so I really appreciate all feedback positive or negative.**

My plans to see Damon were derailed when Jeremy asked to borrow my car to go to the library. I was happy to give him the keys because it always made me ecstatic whenever Jeremy showed an interest in studying. I did not think I could bare it if he ever returned to the dark days following our parents' death when it was difficult to motivate Jeremy to wake up in the morning let alone study. Also, I did not think it was appropriate to tell my brother I needed the car to visit my sex instructor. My sex instructor who I was blowing less than twenty-four hours ago…Oh, god, I was going to die stranded at the house.

I lounged around the house for a few hours, bored out of my mind. Homework, soap operas, and YouTube videos of laughing babies did not compare to the wonders Damon could be doing to my body right now if I only had my goddamn car.

I tried to hold out; I truly did. There was nothing attractive about a desperate woman. Despite all of my good intentions, I found myself calling Damon's number hoping that if I could not get to him, he would come to me.

"Hello," Damon answered. He sounded distracted like he had not even checked his phone before answering.

"Hey, it's me. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come over."

Asking him to come over was intensely uncomfortable. I was basically propositioning him for sex. For a moment, I hysterically wondered if this made me a john but comforted myself with the knowledge that I was not paying Damon. He could back out at any time.

Damon groaned, "I'm sorry, Elena, I would love to but I'm actually out of town."

"Wait, you left town?" I asked surprised. "Where are you?"

"Stupid as it sounds, Alaric wanted to buy a new car, so we drove to this dealership in Richmond. Why it had to be in Richmond I have no idea! Alaric seems convinced that the dealer is going to rip him off and sell him a car with faulty parts or something like that. I stopped paying attention after a few minutes."

"Oh," I replied despondently, "Okay."

"God, I really wish I could be there right now," Damon told me, his voice a mixture of sincerity and pure sexual frustration.

Acting impulsively, I offered, "Maybe you don't actually have to be here. What are you doing right now?"

Damon chuckled, "I like what you're getting at. I am in the dealership's private lounge while Alaric looks at cars. I am completely alone."

"That's convenient," I murmured seductively into the phone.

"Elena where are you in your house?" Damon asked. His tone was abrupt and demanding. It was a major turn-on.

"Sitting on the couch in the living room. No one else is home."

"Undress."

Following his orders, I pulled off my jeans, t-shirt, and panties and unhooked my bra. As I removed my bra, I gently grazed the skin of my chest, imagining Damon was stroking my skin with his talented fingers.

"I want you to throw one of your legs over the side of the couch and spread your legs wide," Damon practically growled at me.

I opened my legs as wide as I could without being uncomfortable and trailed my hands down my body. Normally I would have teased myself for a few minutes, but Damon being on the other line was making my skin burn with intensity.

"Pinch and rub your breasts," he breathed into the phone. I happily obliged, squeezing my nipples harshly between my thumb and index finger. The motion made me breathless, and I slid one hand down my stomach to where a fierce ache had started.

"Are you doing it?" he asked.

"Yes," I moaned loudly, "It feels so good, Damon, but I wish it was you."

"Mmmmm, so do I," he agreed lustfully.

The burning in my core had become too much, so I snuck my hands down my body and inserted two fingers into my heat. I moaned loudly and tossed my head back and forth. The phone lay discarded but not forgotten next to my ear so that I could hear every syllable of his sinful voice.

"How many fingers are you using, baby?" he asked.

"How did you know I was fingering myself?" I asked, momentarily distracted.

Damon purred into the phone, "You started screaming, Elena. I figured we had progressed to fingering."

I frowned slightly. I did not think I was that loud! Damon moaning quietly into the phone brought me back to the reality of what we were doing and just how good it was.

"Are you touching yourself?" I questioned.

"You're fucking kidding me right?" Damon responded. "Of course I'm jerking off. I have wanted to hear you moaning my name all day."

His confession elicited another moan from me, and I hastily added a third finger to my frantic movements. Every time I began to create a steady rhythm with my fingers, Damon would speak sending me spiraling out of control and back into a frenzy of lustful thrusting.

"I'm using three fingers," I said, finally remembering he had asked me a question.

"I know my cock's a bit more impressive than that, but pretend it's me fucking you, Elena. Because I will be fucking you soon. Imagine how good it will feel when I thrust into your tight, little pussy."

His words were going to drive me to the edge before my fingers could. I started to rub my thumb against my clit to further stimulate my pleasure. This was a fantastic game. I had really been missing out over the years by not having phone sex.

"I am going to take you in so many different ways. I will teach you positions you did not even know existed. I'll bend you over every surface in my house and fuck you until you cry from joy," he panted.

I reached my free hand down to my entrance and collected some of the wetness that was gathering around my folds. Using it as a lubricant, I rubbed my nipples frantically, my body bowing from the sensation.

"God, Damon," I moaned, "this reminds me so much of last night. You made me cum so hard on your fingers…I….I….I."

I never finished my thought because the overpowering feeling of my orgasm crashing over me left me speechless. Touching oneself should not feel this good. It had never felt this good before.

Over the line, I heard Damon topple over the edge as well, shouting in his release.

"I don't care if I have to leave Ric at this dealership, I will be back tonight," Damon told me hoarsely, "Can I come over?"

"Yes," I bit out shakily. I was slowly coming down from my high and talking seemed out of my range of abilities at the moment.

"I have to…clean up. I'll see you soon."

"Bye." I would be counting down the hours until soon.

Jeremy came home as ordered in time to give me the car so that I could meet Matt. He immediately sat down with me on the couch and took the remote.

"Hey!" I protested as Jeremy changed the channel to Comedy Central, "I was watching that."

"You are leaving anyway. You said I had to return the car by five so you could go out," Jeremy argued, his eyes locked on the screen.

He had a point, so I changed the subject, "You spent a long time at the library. Was that all you did?"

Jeremy blushed before answering, "I might not have studied alone the whole time. Bonnie came after her lunch with Caroline."

I studied the way Jeremy's whole face lit up when he talked about Bonnie. He adopted the most adorable puppy dog expression and bowed his head in embarrassment.

"God! You two are so adorable; it's depressing. Why can't you be miserable like everybody else," I moaned, throwing my head backwards into the cushion of the couch.

"Just because you are not getting any," Jeremy laughed.

"Shut up!" I blushed. Images that I had been trying to block out of what I had been doing on this very couch only a few hours earlier threatened to break through and consume my mind.

Noticing the look on my face, Jeremy said, "Or are you getting some?"

"Okay, I am leaving," I said, smacking Jeremy upside the head as I stood up and collected my purse.

"C'yeah," he called, still laughing good-humoredly.

The puppy love that was Bonnie and Jeremy's relationship always served to darken my mood. I was genuinely happy for them. It was almost like killing two birds with one stone, making two of the people I cared most about happy in one fell swoop. However, their relationship had just started around the time my relationship with Stefan was ending. They reminded me of what I could no longer have myself.

Thinking of Stefan was a bad idea. Along with the usual feelings of loneliness and abandonment, I now had a niggling sense of guilt. It felt like my arrangement with Damon was somehow disrespecting Stefan's memory. I knew Stefan would not fault me for moving on, but casual sex with his brother was different. He would be upset if he ever found out. Maybe he would not be as devastated as I was over Katherine, but he would still be hurt.

I arrived at the restaurant and was directed to a table by the hostess. Matt was already sitting at the table. He looked so pathetic; it broke my heart. His skin looked sallow and the circles under his eyes suggested he was having trouble sleeping. Nightmares about Vicki must still be keeping him up at night.

"Thanks for meeting me," I greeted.

Matt looked up from his menu, but his expression did not change, so I sat down without comment and looked at my own menu. We managed to order without directly speaking to one another and sat in silence for a few minutes.

Breaking the silence, I said, "I love this place."

It was true. I thought this restaurant was adorable. There was not a thing authentic about the décor, which largely consisted of wallpaper made of maps of Italy and doll-sized statues of little mustachioed men in chef hats. The food, however, was divine, and it all combined to create a great atmosphere.

"The food's good," Matt agreed quietly.

"Do you remember? We came here for our first real date, in what, eighth grade?" I smiled as my mind looked back at how adorable we were back then. Everything was so simple. We were two friends who already loved one another and were ready for more.

"I remember," Matt said, he sounded pained.

I felt suddenly awful for bringing that memory up. It seemed cruel and manipulative to try to commiserate with Matt over how much we had once loved one another, still loved one another, when he only wanted to hate me.

The waitress's return with our meals cut off any more discussion. I barely touched my food. Whenever I was upset, I had difficult eating. Following my parents' death I had lost over fifteen pounds, which considering how small I already was had raised alarm bells amongst adults. I was never bulimic or anything and I gained all of the weight back without complaint. Now, the familiar churning sensation in my stomach was back again with a vengeance as I watched Matt.

"Elena, we've been sitting here for over half an hour. Can you just tell me what we're doing here already," Matt asked impatiently.

"I know we can't be friends anymore, at least not like how we used to, but I don't want you to hate me. I know it is selfish, but I cannot stand the idea of you hating me," I said.

"I don't hate you," Matt said, but he looked uncertain, as if he was not sure if he was telling the truth.

Remembering why I was really there, I continued, "Most importantly, I want you to forgive Caroline. She is going crazy without you. She loves you so much."

"She's a vampire," Matt said despondently.

"Yes, but she's still Caroline. Actually, becoming a vampire helped Caroline become a really strong, independent person. I think you would really love the changes you would find if you just talked to her."

"As long as she is a vampire, I am not interested," Matt said, his voice slipping from sorrow to anger for the first time.

"Matt," I said in an appeasing voice, "Caroline – and I am saying this with one hundred percent honesty – did not know about Vicky. She was completely innocent."

Matt stared at me with fury in his blue eyes, "But you knew. You knew the truth about how my sister was murdered and you kept it from me. Why should I believe a word you say?"

The volume of his voice was steadily rising, and I glanced around the restaurant nervously to make sure no one had overheard. A few people had looked curiously in our direction, but they were not running to call the police so they must not have heard the subject of our conversation.

"You need to be quiet!" I ordered harshly. All of the anger evaporated from Matt's eyes at my rebuke, and he sank backwards into his chair looking grim.

Trying to set an example, I whispered, "Knowing about vampires is dangerous. I was trying to protect you from the truth. If…If I could have done anything to save Vicky, I would have. But she was already dead, Matt, and the most important thing to me was trying to keep you safe.

Matt sat in silence as he absorbed what I was saying to him. I knew better than to push him. Matt was almost comically reliable, and I knew he would wait until he had processed all of the information before he spoke again.

"I'm not a kid," Matt said finally after a significant pause, "I pretty much raised myself, so I don't need people looking after me. Trying to protect me. What I needed was for you to be my friend."

"I'm always your friend," I said quietly. While I had been well aware that I had failed as a friend, to actually hear him say so was heart wrenching. I could feel pressure building in my tear ducts as I fought the urge to cry.

Matt sighed heavily, "I know you think you were doing the right thing, but I was not your priority, Elena. You are so caught up in the Salvatores, the people who killed my sister, that you can't see it," he practically spat the word Salvatore out as if the mere mention of the name made him sick.

"Fine, maybe we cannot be friends, but what about Caroline?"

"She was my girlfriend, Elena," Matt said, "Girlfriends can't hide stuff like that they're not human. That's not the kind of secret I can forgive. I hate vampires. Caroline is dead to me, and honestly, you're not much better."

Even though he did not shout the cruel words was basically the equivalent of an emotional outburst coming from Matt. He looked at me almost apologetically for a moment, before he pulled some money out of his wallet and dropped it on the table to cover his portion of the check. Without so much as a goodbye, Matt walked away, leaving me feeling crushed by guilt and grief.

For the remainder of my evening, I tried desperately to fight off the tears that threatened me. I wanted to cry for myself because I had lost a friend. I wanted to cry for poor, lonely Matt. He was stronger than all of us, unwilling to compromise, and for that he was alienated from his friends. I wanted to cry for Caroline, who truly loved him and could never have him again.

Not until I was in the shower, safely hidden from the rest of the world, did I finally allow myself to break down into silent sobs. My tears fell in hot tracks, trailing down my cheeks and mixing with the water from the shower. Remembering the pure times with Matt before death entered my life had brought out within me a piercing longing. I wanted my innocence back.

I dried off and walked back into my bedroom wearing nothing but a towel and smeared makeup. My tears were gone, leaving me with a weariness that penetrated my soul. I sat down on the edge of my bed and rested my face in my hands.

"Mmm," a voice whispered in my ear, "you dressed up for me."

I whipped around to see Damon sprawled across my bed. He looked just as delicious as yesterday, but I just felt empty. Even as he walked his fingers up my arms, I was not really there.

"Damon," I said, tiredness seeping into every word, "I am not in the mood."

"Come on, you missed me a few hours ago," he needled, cockiness clear in his voice.

"I just can't do this right now. I know I said you could come over, and I'm sorry, but I need you to leave," I said in a shaky voice.

Damon's expression immediately shifted into one of concern, and he asked, "Does this have anything to do with us?"

He reached out to stroke my hair, and I jerked back away from his hand. "Not everything is about you, Damon. Now, please I'm tired, and I want to go to bed. Just leave."

Damon stared at me for a few seconds longer before disappearing so quickly, I could easily pretend he had never been there at all.

**A/N: I promise, next chapter less plot, more smut ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

I glanced down at my phone to see a call from Ric and actually groaned out load at the sight. This was getting ridiculous. Barely a day went by without Alaric calling me at least once – if not more. Unwilling to deal with him at the moment, I hit call ignore.

The man had really sacrificed his manhood. From what Ric had told me during the countless times he had come over to bitch about his life, he was adrift in Mystic Falls. He had only come here on a quest to avenge his wife; now his life purpose had been taken away from him. Jenna had grounded him, keeping Ric functioning and happy. Without her, his life consisted solely of his job and hanging out with his new best friend – me.

How I became Ric's life coach was beyond me. The man had actually called me the other day to ask my opinion on what type of ice cream he should eat. I needed to put a little distance between the two of us before he tried to sleep over at the boarding house and braid my hair.

Thoughts of Ric inevitably led to Elena. If it had not been for that fucker, I could have avoided this whole fiasco. Damn his premature mid-life crisis. If Ric had not demanded that he needed a car that could only be found two hours away from Mystic Falls, I could have gone straight to Elena's house and fucked her when she had called. The phone sex had been hot, but I could guarantee it would not compare to actually having sex with Elena. It had been two days since she kicked me out, and I was going crazy, replaying our short but heated affair over and over in my head.

The worst part of it all was why she had thrown me out. While I had no evidence to support my theory, I had expected it to happen eventually. After our phone sex, she had probably spent hours poring over photos of Stefan, crying over how much she loved him. The asshat had left her for Katherine of all people, but he could still do no wrong in Elena's eyes. The double standard was a fucking travesty.

After remembering just how much she loved Stefan, of course Elena wanted to call it off with me. It had been too good to be true. I should have known better than to expect Elena to enter into a casual sex relationship. At the end of the day, she was a fairly conservative high school student, those types were typically vanilla.

Once you actually got her in a bed, though, she was anything but a frightened school girl. She came absolutely alive beneath my tutelage. Elena possessed a wide-eyed innocence that called to me. I wanted to shock her, please her, dominate her. What prevented her from falling into the category of yet another innocent girl waiting for my corruptive influence, were her reactions to my touch. Elena displayed a feistiness that made her almost as dangerous sexually as me.

God, I had blown it by not fucking her when I had the chance.

I had been teetering between self-pity and anger for the better part of three days now. At the moment, I allowed myself to be consumed by my rage and indignation. The woman had used me for sex, and then had the audacity to treat me like some villain twirling my mustache while contemplating how to steal her virtue. It was fucking annoying.

My phone rang again – Ric was nothing but persistent – and I gave in and answered the call.

"I tried to call you earlier, but you did not answer," Ric berated me the moment I answered the phone.

"I was in the shower," I lied shortly.

Alaric slurred into the phone, "I need you to come pick me up."

"Ric, class let out less than three hours ago, how are you already wasted?"

"I went to the bar," Ric mumbled into the phone.

"That's some example you are setting for America's youth, Ric. What would your students think?"

"Ahhh, but I thought of that. I am at a bar outside of Mystic Falls. No one will find me here," Ric countered.

I sighed and rubbed my brow, "Where are you?"

"A bar called Wanda's."

"Give me half an hour, I will pick you up," I said. Irritated with the inconvenience, I hung up before allowing him to get another word in edgewise.

I made it to the bar in half the time I thought it would take. It was a typical bar, nothing too outrageous or out of the norm. Since it was only afternoon on a weekday, most people inside were eating except for the local drunks. True to form, Mystic Falls new local drunk Alaric Saltzman was sitting on a barstool at the bar with his upper body sprawled out across the countertop.

"All right, Ric, it's time to go home," I said, patting Alaric on the back.

Alaric looked up at me with bleary eyes and smiled. "Sit down for a minute, Damon," Ric offered amiably.

I agreed but waved the bartender away when he tried to refill Ric's drink. One more drink and I would have to carry Ric out of her. I would prefer the far more manly lean.

"Do you know why I like talking to you Damon?" Alaric asked drunkenly.

"Is it my dashing charm and wit?' I answered sarcastically.

"Nope," Alaric said, shaking his head, "It's because you remind me of myself.

I grimaced, "That's a depressing thought, Ric."

"No, you are like me, you are," Alaric cried passionately. "Isobel – look at Isobel. I gave her everything, and she abandoned me. Katherine is your Isobel. Then, Jenna, without Jenna I am lost and miserable. Do you see what I am saying?"

"Love sucks," I offered helpfully.

"Absolutely," Alaric agreed, "You are so sad. For almost two centuries, you have never gotten what you wanted. You are one of the great tragic figures of history. I should teach my students about you: Damon Salvatore, the man that no one loved."

I ground my teeth, annoyed at the direction the conversation had taken. Especially with everything that happened with Elena on my mind, I did not want to be reminded about how unlovable I was.

"The difference between us, Ric," I said coldly, "is that I know how to hold my alcohol."

"I am doing just fine," Alaric argued.

To prove his point, Alaric stood up and made to walk out the door. He lost his balance after the first step and stumbled backwards into the bar. Rolling my eyes, I hooked his arm over my shoulder and began to drag him out of the bar. All of Alaric's obnoxious energy had dissipated, and he was practically unconscious as I walked him out of the bar.

I had Ric out of the bar in less than a minute, his dead weight posing no challenge to my superhuman strength. I lifted him like and baby and settled him into the passenger seat.

As I was buckling his seatbelt, he murmured, "I just want her to love me."

"I know," was my only answer before I drove him home.

It was getting late when I decided to head out. There was nothing to do at my house, and with Alaric still passed out at his house, there was no one for me to talk to. I figured I would head to a bar and try to get as wasted as Alaric. Maybe finding some company for the evening would further help take the edge off.

I slung my leather jacket over my shoulder and walked towards the door. As I opened it, I saw a shocked Elena standing on the other side of the door, her fist raised as if she was about to knock.

"Elena," I said, more in surprise than in greeting.

A wave of adoration and hope ran through me. Even if she was only here to officially break off our arrangement, it was still better than her ignoring me.

"Are you going somewhere? Because I can leave," Elena offered.

I gave her an incredulous look. She had to know that there was nowhere I would rather be than with her. Preferably in a bed or a shower or the kitchen table…

"Of course you do not have to leave. Come in, Elena," I said, opening the door completely so that she could enter, "I have been wondering where you have been."

Elena's eyebrows drew together, "It's not like we see each other every day. We often go longer than this without talking to each other."

There was no need for her to know how bored I was during those periods without her. There was even less need for her to know how miserable I had been without her these last few days.

Elena walked inside and settled herself down on the couch. "Can I have something to drink?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow but poured two glasses of scotch out of a crystal decanter on the bar. I passed her a glass, and sipped on my own. She wrinkled her nose but drank her scotch without comment. Tossing my leather jacket aside, I approached her.

"So, what are you doing here Elena? Looking for someone over twenty-one to provide the booze?" I asked, sitting down on a chair opposite her.

"No," she laughed, shaking her head, "I'm here for my next lesson."

I choked on my drink and looked up at her. I had to have misheard her. Elena was done with our arrangement. For the past few days, I had been forcing myself to accept that our fuck fest had prematurely ended.

"I thought those were over."

"Look, Damon, I am sorry about the other night. It had nothing to do with you. I have just been upset – too upset to see you, but I am here now," Elena apologized.

"Want to tell me why you were upset?" I asked, curious since it did not seem to be about Stefan.

"No."

I was about to argue when Elena stood up. Without hesitating, she pulled her shirt off and slid her pants off to pool at her feet. Any argument left in me died when faced with the sight of Elena in burgundy lingerie.

I stood up and began to circle her, examining every inch of exposed flesh. Her bra pushed her breasts up and together, creating a tantalizing cleavage. I ran my finger beneath her breasts, pleased by the goose bumps that immediately covered her skin. With firm fingers, I gently massaged the half moons of her breasts not concealed by her bra. I could not resist marveling at her chest. Over the years, I had certainly seen larger breasts, but I would be hard pressed to remember any as perky as Elena's. Perfect handfuls, I thought, nearly delirious with desire.

Reluctantly, I released her breasts and continued my appraisal of her body. I rubbed my hands across the taut expanse of her stomach. I could feel the rippling in the muscles of her abdomen. Elena's skin was a delicious olive with caramel undertones that contrasted gorgeously with the color of her bra. I wanted to lick every inch of it.

Indulging myself, I laved her neck with my tongue. Elena's head tilted backwards, and she moaned quietly. My hands travelled down her body until I reached her round ass. She was so perfectly formed. A ten on every scale.

As if a volcano of lust was exploding within me, I removed her bra with one hand, practically tearing it in my haste to see her bare. The sight before me was too good to be true, and I groaned. Never releasing my grip on her backside, I slammed Elena roughly into the wall.

"Wrap your legs around my waist," I ordered.

Elena complied instantly, her thighs locking around my hips. I pressed my lips against hers harshly. Her tongue ran against my lips, and I happily opened my mouth to deepen the kiss. She put up a good fight, her tongue tangling with mine and darting deeply into my mouth, but I ultimately won our battle for dominance. She submitted without complaint, moaning into my mouth and scratching at my back.

The friction from our position was amazing. Her center was perfectly aligned with my throbbing erection, and I could see the wetness from her pussy dripping through her panties onto the crotch of my jeans. It was a mouth-watering sight. Elena rubbed herself against my body, increasing the pleasure for both of us.

Elena pulled her face away, breaking our kiss. I growled and tried to recapture her lips, but she turned her face away.

"Wait," Elena panted breathlessly.

"No waiting," I snapped impatiently.

I nipped at her neck, enjoying the way her artery pulsed beneath my teeth. It was an exquisite torture.

"Wait," Elena repeated, "You promised to take your shirt off last time."

I smirked, pulling myself away from her neck and aid, "Baby, you can take all of my clothes off."

Maintaining our position of her clinging to my body, I ran us up the stairs to my bedroom. Without ceremony, I tossed her on the bed. Her breasts bounced deliciously along with the rest of her body, as I had dropped her without enough force to make her entire form jump. I ripped her panties off, throwing the useless shreds behind me.

"Undress me, Elena," I demanded, ignoring the look of shock on her face from the panty ripping.

Eagerly, Elena kneeled on the edge of the bed and began to grapple with the buttons of my shirt. I praised myself for choosing a button down this morning as it allowed me to watch the incredibly erotic sight of Elena slowly undressing me. With every conquered button, Elena explored the revealed skin with her fingertips, eliciting gratified sighs from me.

After my shirt was unbuttoned, Elena pushed it off my shoulders. The look on her face was one of pure admiration. Elena had purposefully avoided looking at my chest in the past. Now that we were in bed, Elena studied me with a lustful intensity.

"Like what you see?" I teased, immaturely.

Elena glared at me, clearly annoyed with my taunt. Suddenly, her expression became mischievous. She lowered her head and bit my nipped with surprising force. I gasped, and she grinned cheekily at me.

"Sorry, baby," she cooed.

I narrowed my eyes but instantly forgot my displeasure when her lips latched around my nipple. This time she sucked gently, soothing the light sting from her previous bite. She continued to attend to my nipples for a few minutes, until I pulled her head back.

She pouted prettily at me and moved to return to my nipples. I knotted my hand in the base of her hair and pulled, stopping her movements.

"Ow!" Elena gasped in surprise and pain.

"You haven't finished," I reminded her, motioning to my still clothed lower body.

Her pout became more pronounced, but Elena obediently began to remove my belt without argument. Her nimble fingers swiftly unbuttoned and unzipped my pants. To help move the process along, I stepped out of my jeans as she pulled my boxers down my legs.

Elena tentatively wrapped her hand around my cock, making me shudder. She looked up at me with big, expressive eyes. The image of her holding my cock with innocent eyes peering up at me would be forever seared in my brain.

I surged forward, pushing Elena onto her back. My cock lay on top of the folds of her pussy, causing her to writhe beneath me. Pleased, I gripped my cock and rubbed it against her clit. Her whimpering was music to my ears. I positioned myself at her entrance, prepared to thrust and finally be seated in Elena's tight pussy.

Elena stopped my motions and said, "Wait! Only…missionary?"

The matching disappointment in her voice and on her face made me laugh. I would be more than happy to oblige her on this.

"Elena Gilbert, I just may love you," I laughed.

Immediately, a pang of longing shot through me at my uncalculated words, but I pushed it away. There was something far more pressing to take care of at the moment. I needed to fuck my girl until she passed out from exhaustion. A plan I had every intention of following through.

"Mmmm, just how should I fuck you," I purred down at her, "There are so many naughty ways I can think of. Have you been keeping up with your yoga?"

A look of trepidation passed through her eyes, and I laughed. I honestly had no intention of trying anything that difficult with her tonight. One reason was she was not ready for it. Another reason was I did not have the patience for it. I just wanted to slam inside her already.

I grasped Elena's sides in my hands and flipped her over onto her stomach. Distracted by the sight of her ass, I moved my hand down to squeeze the alluring mounds of flesh.

"On your hands and knees. Now!" I ordered.

Elena crawled out of her position lying on the bed onto her hands and knees like a good little girl. I had to stop for a moment to congratulate myself on my every fantasy coming true.

"Elena, has anyone ever taken you in this position before?" I asked.

"A few times," Elena answered honestly.

"I guess I'll have to mix it up a little then," I said teasingly.

I stared at her dripping pussy for a moment before positioning my cock at her entrance. Gently, I used my hands to spread her legs open, making her pussy more accessible. Bracing myself for something incredible, I pushed myself forward into her wet heat. My cock may have shouted a benediction to the Lord in that moment.

The muscles of Elena's pussy clamped down on my cock the moment I entered. She was almost unbearably tight. It had been four months since she had last had sex, and she felt like a dream. When Elena thrust herself backwards, I realized she had adjusted to my size and was more than ready to be fucked.

I started moving forward at a steady rhythm, focusing on the sound of her moans. They were sexy as hell. I leaned forward and lifted her right leg off the bed. Elena almost lost balance, but I steadied her with my other hand. I draped her right leg across my hip and reveled in how deep the position allowed me to sink into her pussy.

Assured that she was balancing on her own, I reached the arm that had been steadying her forward and grabbed her hair. I yanked her hair backwards causing her to moan loudly. With her positioned exactly how I wanted her, I began to thrust into her harder, earning keening screams of pleasure from Elena.

After a few minutes, Elena dropped her head downwards to rest on the bed.

"No," I ordered her, tugging on her hair, "keep your head up."

"But…" Elena protested, twisting her head to look at me imploringly.

"Elena, keep your head up and arch your back," I told her in an authoritative voice that left no room for discussion.

She groaned but did as I ordered. I shifted the angle of my thrusts downwards so that I was hitting her front wall. Any objections from Elena disappeared almost instantaneously.

"Oh, God! Damon!" Elena screamed.

Lifting her hips slightly, I came into contact with her G-Spot. The instant increase in her juices made me groan in pleasure. I pounded into her with fast thrusts, repeatedly hitting her G-Spot. Elena's walls began to flutter tightly around my cock, and I knew she was close to coming. I tightened my grip on her hair; it was almost too much.

Elena thrust herself desperately backwards, forcing me to increase my pace to meet her thrusts. She was growing frantic beneath me, and I yanked her hair harder to control her movements. Her walls were squeezing my cock in a death-grip during her impending release.

Moments later, Elena came hard all over my cock with a cry of ecstasy. The smell invaded my nostrils, so that I could practically taste the evidence of her desire. It was incredibly sexy just how much she released. Some women only produced a little more wetness during a G-Spot orgasm. Elena, much to my delight, released a flood of biblical proportions.

The sensation of a life-changing orgasm began to build in me, and I thrust harder into Elena. Her orgasm was dying down, causing her to stop moving. Going easy on her, I released her hair, letting her lean her upper body forward on the bed. I gripped her hips tightly and forced her backwards onto my thrusting cock until my own release came. Moaning loudly, I released myself deeply inside of her.

I pulled out and collapsed on the bed, momentarily exhausted from our activities. I would need some time before I was ready to go again. Our fucking had been so intense, I could not think straight. I look at Elena amused, realizing she is still in the same position on her knees. The look on her face was one of insane satisfaction.

"Feel free to move now, Elena," I said with a laugh.

Slowly, Elena slid downwards so that she was lying on her stomach beside me. Her breathing was still heavy, and I could hear her accelerated heartbeat trying to steady itself back to a reasonable rhythm.

"You should go to sleep, Elena."

"I'm not planning on spending the night," Elena said in a sleepy voice.

"That's all well and good, but your lesson is nowhere near finished. Get some rest, because I'll be waking you up soon. When we are done, you can go home," I ordered. God, I love being her teacher.

Elena lifted her head to stare at me shocked, "We are not done?"

"Oh, baby," I laughed, pulling her into my arms, "Not by a long shot."


	5. Chapter 5

I was so confused! My mind was bleary, and I had difficulty making sense of what was happening around me. All of my senses were numbed except for an intense physical sensation. It was almost like a tingling only more extreme. It felt wonderful.

Slowly, my mind began to function more clearly, and I realized that the pleasure was emanating from my lower body. My eyes fluttered open as I awoke from a deep slumber. I looked down to see Damon lapping lazily between my folds. He glanced upwards, meeting my gaze and grinned wickedly at me.

"Damon, how long have I been asleep?" I murmured.

"About two hours," Damon answered absently. He was entirely focused on the work he was doing below.

I blinked heavily before sitting upwards abruptly. The jerking of my body cause my pussy to slide away from Damon's seeking mouth. Damon glared at me and, gripping my hips, yanked me back down the bed.

"No, Damon, I have to leave. It is late," I insisted.

Damon shook his head, "I told you I was not done with you yet."

"Jenna will worry, and I cannot drive after curfew," I whined, sounding like a petulant child who had been scolded by her mother.

Damon sighed and sat up to glare at me, "I will drive you home, and you can call Jenna right now and tell her you will be late coming home."

Realizing I had lost this battle, I shot him a scowl before climbing out of bed.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"I am looking for my phone to call Jenna," I snapped.

"It's probably with your pants…downstairs," Damon's entire face lit up with the memory of how I lost my pants, "Come back upstairs when you find your phone."

I climbed out of bed, wrapping the sheet around my tiny form. Damon raised an eyebrow at my modesty. He had seen every part of me quite intimately, but I was not at a place where I was comfortable walking around his house naked.

I walked downstairs and stopped to glance around for my pants. My clothes were strewn throughout the room. The disarray made me blush as it reminded me of our passionate frenzy. I found my pants on the floor and jogged back upstairs carrying my phone.

When I walked back into the room, Damon was lying sprawled across the bed without a stitch of clothing on the cover his body. My cheeks burned, and I tried hard not to stare at his nakedness. I could not help but sneak a quick peek at his unbelievable abs. Trailing downwards, my eyes studied the sexy path of hair that led to his cock. His cock that was currently standing partially erect.

I forced myself to look at his face, and Damon gave me a knowing wink. I arranged myself so that I was lying propped up on some pillows with the sheet draped across both of us. There would be no more distractions.

I dialed Jenna's number and waited for her to answer the phone.

"Hi, Elena," Jenna greeted.

"Hey, I was just calling to check in with you. I am going to be pretty late coming home," I said.

As I talked, Damon slid under the covers. He shifted his body so that I could feel him breathing on my stomach. Annoyed, I tried to push him off, but he would not budge.

"Where are you?" Jenna asked.

"At Caroline's. We are going to watch a _Cupcake Wars_ marathon," I lied lightly.

It became increasingly difficult to concentrate. Damon placed light kisses down my stomach, stopping to lick at my hips. It was a delicious tickle. My breathing got heavier and a warm rush of excitement spread through my body.

"It is a school night, so I do not want you sleeping over," Jenna said.

"Stop it!" I hissed at Damon, ignoring Jenna. He was nibbling on my inner thighs in a way that made me ache.

"Elena?" Jenna asked, waiting for me to respond.

"I am sorry, Jenna. There is no need to worry. I will get a ride home," I answered in the steadiest voice I could manage.

Damon flicked his tongue through my folds. Lightly, he began to circle around my clit. I squirmed against his mouth, simultaneously trying to buck him off and make him stop teasing. Damon slid one hand upwards to force my hips down.

To my horror, Jenna was not ready to hang up, "Actually, Elena, I wanted to talk to you about Friday."

"Fri – Friday?" I stuttered.

To my relief, Damon began to lick me in earnest, relieving some of the delicious torture his teasing had wrought. I nearly jumped off the bed when he began to thrust his tongue in and out of my hole. It was an addicting feeling. Using one hand to keep the phone at my ear, I thread my fingers in his hair, forcing him closer to my aching pussy.

"I am sorry you had to meet Travis when he was so…exposed. I feel like an awful parental figure. I do not mean to bring so many men home. Actually, Travis and I are becoming pretty serious, so there is no need to worry that I am turning the house into some kind of brothel," Jenna explained.

"It's all good," I half-panted, half-moaned into the phone.

"Do you have any concerns? He is fairly old. Did that freak you out at all?" Jenna further pressed, completely oblivious to the debauchery occurring on the other end of the phone.

Damon purred from beneath the covers, "Nothing wrong with an older man."

Impatiently, I shoved his head back down to where I wanted it. Taking the hint, Damon finally licked my clit making me moan quietly.

"It's no problem, Jenna," I bit out.

I missed Jenna's response as I momentarily lost all connection with reality. Damon was again fucking me with his tongue, lapping at the juices that were flowing freely. To increase my pleasure, Damon rubbed my clit in rapid circles with his forefinger. His other hand tweaked and played with my nipple. Overwhelmed, I came with a silent scream, my face contorting and eyes squeezing shut.

"Goodbye, Jenna," I breathed.

"Um…bye," Jenna said hesitantly. I realized belatedly that I must have cut her off but could not muster up the energy to care.

Damon slid up the bed and grinned cockily at me. He was all too pleased with himself.

"What the Hell was that?" I screeched, "I was on the phone!"

"I know. Half the fun was listening to you try to keep it together," Damon laughed.

"How is that fun?"

"I like listening to you fall apart. Does wonders for my ego. Plus, it's sexy as Hell," Damon replied.

He leaned in and kissed me. All of my anger at his antics instantly defused. This kiss was gentler than our past kisses in the throes of passion. Damon was in no hurry which transferred into the kiss.

"Another benefit of my naughty ways," Damon whispered against my lips, "is that now you are well dilated and ready for my cock to fuck you."

At his words, I felt the beginnings of desire burning low in my stomach.

"Where do you want me?" I asked eagerly.

"Hold onto the headboard with both hands," Damon ordered, "And stay on your back."

I wrapped my hands around the top of his headboard and spread my legs. Damon instantly filled the space with his body. The length of his cock – now magnificently hard – lay at my entrance. An easy thrust and he would be buried within me for the second time that night.

"Put your leg on my shoulder," Damon continued.

He helped me lift my right leg so that it rested on his shoulder. Thank God I was still flexible from cheerleading. I extended my leg so that it lay at a straight angle against his body.

Repositioning himself so his cock was once again nudging my entrance, Damon smirked down at me. "Hold on tight," he teased.

Damon thrust into my tightness so abruptly and with such force that my body jolted off the bed. All that anchored me was my leg on his shoulder and my hands which were clinging to the headboard.

His next thrust was even harder, and we both bounced upwards. Continuing in a similar pattern, Damon fucked me hard, and together, we jostled the bed.

There was something ridiculous about our bouncing movement. It was fun and made me feel like a little girl. There was nothing innocent about the motion of our lower bodies, however. The other consequence of the force and speed of Damon's thrusts was that he penetrated me deeply and rubbed deliciously against my clit.

Damon turned his head to the side and teasingly licked my ankle. "Stop it!" I shrieked, "I'm ticklish."

Damon smiled in response and began to lift up and down off his knees. Every time he pushed himself upward, my back would actually rise off the bed so that I was completely suspended in the air. I giggled at the hilarity of the movement. My giggles were quickly replaced by moans. It felt phenomenal. Sex could not be this fun and carefree. I felt silly, but at the same time, it was sexy as hell.

The position allowed Damon to completely dominate me. My arms and legs were occupied. I could not even meet his thrusts by moving my hips due to the way my body was leaping off the bed. He was completely in control of our movements. There was no fear, only a sense of pleasure and fun.

Our bodies were slick with sweat from our exertions, and the feeling of his slick skin rubbing against me felt wonderful. A delicious heat began to spread its way through my body. I felt like my entire body was vibrating. As my orgasm crashed over me I let out a scream that could wake the dead. This was nirvana. Panting from his efforts, Damon released inside of me never slowing his thrusts.

When my contractions had ceased, Damon leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. I slid my leg down from his shoulder and rubbed it against his leg. There was a sweetness to our position that contrasted heavily against the crazed sex we had been having minutes before.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the unexpected intimacy we were sharing, I squirmed out from beneath him. The moment had been tender and there had been way too much emotion emanating from Damon. I was not comfortable with this momentary shift in our relationship. I had prepared myself to have sex with him. It had involved some difficult and round-about reasoning, but I had managed to convince myself that we could screw around without there being any emotional ramifications. I had not even broached the idea of sharing something more personal with him, and I was not going to address it tonight or any time soon.

Breaking off this thing between us would be more difficult than I had originally expected, however. Sex with Damon was fun and unrestrained. Since my parents death I had experienced a limited amount of anything of the fun or unrestrained variety. Letting loose with someone who made it so mind blowingly good was a dream come true. I had not put a time-cap on our arrangement, and I had difficulty imagining ever asking him to stop. Until I was ready to be in a committed relationship with someone again, the lessons would probably continue.

I rolled over to face Damon and asked, "Can you get me a glass of water?"

He raised his eyebrow at my neediness. I doubted Damon was normally the type of guy to take care of the girls he had finished fucking. I gave him my best puppy dog look, and he sighed dramatically. He climbed out of bed and walked out of the room to get my water.

"Thank you!" I called after him.

Damon came back a minute later, glass of water in hand. "Here's your goddamn water," he growled playfully. I took it from him with an impish grin and sat up to sip at it.

"You know it's not my fault I am so thirsty. You gave me a bit of a workout. I got dehydrated," I giggled.

"I do not know what you are referring to. I was there a few minutes ago, and I was definitely the one doing all of the work," Damon bantered, "Maybe I deserve something to drink."

He said the last part suggestively, and I glared at him in response. He could get something to drink out of a blood bag because it would not be coming from me.

"Just because you did all of the work does not mean it was not tiring for me. Watching you work was absolutely exhausting," I flopped back down onto the pillow and set my glass on the bedside table. Damon smiled at me, amused by my antics, and I smiled unrepentantly back at him.

"So now will you tell me why you were upset a few days ago?" Damon asked with a smirk, abruptly changing the subject.

"God! No, stop asking!" I groaned, burying my face in a pillow.

Damon chuckled and leaned down to hover over me. His hot breath raised the hairs on my neck making me shudder. I felt his tongue dart out to lick the sensitive part of my earlobe.

"Please, will you tell me," he wheedled.

"No, I will not tell you," I snapped, "And no, we are not having more sex! I am human. I need some time to recuperate!"

"First, I think you are underestimating yourself," Damon said seductively, "And second, I really want you to tell me why you were crying when I came to your house the other day. Was it something about me?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I was not sad because of you?" I demanded.

"One more time could not hurt, but it is not necessary. I believe you. Were you crying over…Stefan?" Damon seemed pained as he asked the question.

I rolled my eyes, a motion of exasperation he could not see with my face pressed against the pillow, "You know everything with me is not about being lovesick over boys. I was not upset about anything Stefan related."

"Elena, come on, I am genuinely curious and concerned about you. Please tell me," Damon said.

I faltered when faced with the look on his face. Sincerity was shining through. There was no evidence of his sarcasm or cruelty. He meant it when he said he was concerned about me.

"Fine," I said, rolling over onto my back, "I was upset about Matt."

"I thought you said this was not about being lovesick over a boy."

"I am not in love with Matt! At least not anymore," I said.

"Then what is the problem?" Damon questioned.

Closing my eyes, I answered, "Caroline asked me to talk to Matt, hoping I could convince him to forgive her. I tried. I failed. Matt hates me too."

"That does not sound that bad," Damon said slowly.

"You know that is your goddamn problem!" I shouted, sitting up abruptly to yell at him. A feeling of intense rage was burning through my body. "You trivialize everyone else's feelings because you are so self-centered you can only ever think of yourself. Matt has been one of my closest friends since I was in kindergarten. He means a hell of a lot more to me than you do! I value his friendship, and I lost it because I was an awful excuse for a friend. I feel guilty and terrible because I am all but dead to him. So yeah, it should sound that bad!"

I climbed out of the bed and walked out of the room to get my clothes from downstairs. I could hear Damon following me, but I ignored him. I was dressed in under a minute and ready to leave.

"Hey!" Damon said sternly, gripping my arm and spinning me around to face him, "I am driving you home, remember?"

"Fine."

I could tell by looking at him out of my peripheral vision – because I refused to acknowledge his existence by directly looking at him – that Damon was furious. His jaw was twitching, and his eyes were wild. My own anger was about quadruple his, however. I wanted to scream, I was so livid. He had treated something important to me cavalierly. He had demanded to know because he "cared" but then treated me like I was ridiculous.

As he drove me home, I continued to reflect on everything wrong with Damon Salvatore. It was an impressive list. You could not just choose to care about some people and not others. It was inhuman. And yes, Damon was not human, but he could be more repentant about it.

"Elena," Damon spoke after a few minutes, "I understand that Matt is important to you."

"Is that your version of an apology?" I gritted out.

"Yes," Damon answered in a tone similar to my own.

I stared pointedly out the windshield to avoid having to deal with him.

"Would you like me to drop your car off at your house tomorrow?" Damon asked.

"No, Damon, I would prefer if my car sits in your driveway for a couple of days. I have gotten bored of it anyway," I said sardonically.

Damon slammed his fist against the dashboard abruptly making me jump in my seat. He shouted, "Jesus! Do you have to be such a bitch about this? I said I was sorry."

"No, you really didn't!" I yelled back at him.

"Well, I am sorry. Does that make you happy?"

"Ecstatic!" I sneered.

We arrived at my house, and Damon stopped the car. We were both breathing heavily. Tonight had been a night of passions – both good and bad. I was actually fairly astonished with myself. I never got this mad at anyone. Damon had a way of making me completely lose my control.

"When can I see you again?" Damon asked in a polite tone that was clearly forced.

"I don't know, Damon. I will call you," I replied in an equally polite tone.

As I began to climb out of the car, Damon said, "Elena, I really am sorry that I hurt your feelings."

"I know you are, Damon," I replied, "But you are not sorry about why I was upset in the first place. You do not care about how anyone else other than me feels. And that is the problem."

**A/N: I had originally planned for Damon to comfort her and for them to bond…clearly that did not happen. Also, I know Elena was pretty awful this chapter but at least they had sex and then she got mad. The anger could have happened first and then there would have been no sex. We have to take what we can get with these two.**


	6. Chapter 6

Damon's POV

She swiveled her hips and rode me harder. The feeling of her tightness around my cock made me moan lowly in the back of my throat. She required zero guidance, lifting her hips and crashing down furiously in time with my thrusts. With every movement my back scratched against the wooden floor, providing an interesting counterpoint to the pleasure provided me by the beautiful woman straddling me.

I grunted trying to withhold my orgasm. It was a relief when I felt her walls tightening. I allowed myself to release, and we both basked in the feelings of our respective orgasms.

"You are wonderful," Andy gasped collapsing on the floor next to me.

Seeking her out had been a brilliant decision on my part. I had an overwhelming amount of pent up sexual frustration, and the intrepid reporter was a fantastic solution to my problem. It had only taken a quick dose of compulsion to make her forget her anger over how I had ignored her for days now and get her back in my bed. Well, on my floor.

"Do you want to stay for lunch?" I asked.

"I would but some of us have to work from nine to five. My lunch break only lasts so long," Andy replied.

"Hmm," I purred, stretching myself out on the floor, "Exposing the dark underbelly of Mystic Falls. What news is breaking in our seedy town today?"

Andy smiled playfully, "Babies are being born. Pies are winning awards. I even have a career defining scoop on a cat that was rescued from a tree. Is it wrong of me that I actually miss the animal attacks? People actually valued the news back then."

I ignored the last part of her statement and steered the conversation into lighter territory, "I would much prefer to listen to the real news. Sexy reporter, Andy Starr, finds pleasure in the arms of ridiculously hot playboy, Damon Salvatore."

"If I said that on the air, I'd be fired," Andy laughed.

"Isn't it your duty to the public to tell them the truth regardless of outside pressure? You are bound to a certain code of ethics, Ms. Starr."

"Yeah, well, I've sold my soul for a paycheck," Andy quipped, putting all her clothes back in place as she spoke.

"Bye," I said, leaning forward to lightly kiss her lips. I barely grazed her lips before pulling away, indicating that it was time for her to leave.

"I'll see you later."

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the hardwood floor. The sound of Andy's heels clicking as she walked grounded me. It would be too easy to let my mind drift away and descend into the soothing abyss of mindlessness. It would be an appreciated break from reality.

As much as it pained me to do so, I had to face what had happened with Elena last night. Her words sizzled along the fringes of my consciousness, threatening to break through all of my barriers and burn the remnants of my heart to ash. I had never known Elena to be so calculating in her cruelty. Whether her words were simply an honest reflection of her feelings or purposefully chosen to wound me, they stung like a bitch.

In my quest to ignore the pain, I had already undertaken in the requisite booze and women. Throughout it all, Elena consumed my thoughts making it impossible to truly enjoy my sinful pleasures. Even Andy had proven to be less of a distraction than usual. And she was the perfect distraction – sex, blood, and banter.

There were only a limited number of options available to me. I could accept my fling with Elena was over – a painful thought. I could try groveling – even less likely than my first option. Or I could find some other way to earn her forgiveness.

Bingo, we have a winner.

I am so fucking whipped, I thought angrily. Elena had me right where she wanted me. The very thought of her being unhappy made me cringe. The image of her looking broken as she cried haunted me. With my infamous tact, I had managed to make a bad situation one hundred times worse by royally pissing her off.

I had been trying to cling to my anger to avoid facing the truth that once again I might have already lost her. It was not difficult finding reasons to be angry. She could not really value that personality-less buffoon, Matt, more than me. Could she? A man could only take so much and that may be a more grievous insult than I could forgive.

In spite of my very real anger towards Elena, I still found myself standing on Matt Donovan's doorstep. I tried to defend my decision to interfere in this teenage soap opera in my head. I had made it my job to protect Elena. Matt was hurting Elena. Matt was a threat that had to be dealt with.

In the past, Matt had occupied very little of my attention. I was aware of him. Over the months that my interest in Elena had increased, of course I had looked into the people most important to her. For the most part, however, Matt's significance had been in the role he played in other, more important, people's lives. He was the brother of Vicky. He was the werewolf's best friend. He was the love of Blondie's life. Now, I would actually have to understand the way this kid worked if I hoped to sway him to my line of reasoning.

Shelving my pride, I knocked on the boy's door. I idly wondered about how anyone could live in such squalor. Their doorbell did not work for Christ's sake. Yes, the boardinghouse did not have a doorbell, but that was a matter of style not means.

Matt opened the door, and I had to stop myself from laughing at his frazzled expression. In a panic, the boy tried to slam the door in my face. I pressed my hand against the door, applying a fraction of my impressive strength to halt its closing. Matt struggled with the door for a few more seconds before realizing the impossibility of the situation.

"Get the Hell off my porch," Matt yelled his face turning red.

"No need to burst a blood vessel. You can trust me when I say I would love to get off your rickety porch," I told him in my snobbiest tone.

Matt bristled at the insult, clenching and unclenching his fists. Humans were filled with such bluster and bravado. It was always fun to watch because, unlike me, they did not have the power to back it up.

"I don't know what you want, but I hope you never find it," Matt sneered.

"What I would like," I said in a placating voice, "is to have a nice conversation with you inside. So, how about it?"

Matt laughed humorlessly, "I've done my research on you things. You need me to let you in and that will never happen."

"Who's to say I haven't already been invited inside? I knew Vicky quite well in her last days, and you witnessed how friendly I was with your mother. Actually, have you ever thought about just how intimately I have known all of the women in your life?"

Blinded by his fury, Matt swung his fist at my face and connected solidly with my jaw. It was actually a good punch, although I could barely feel even a tingling of pain from such weak human strength. Unfortunately for him, this was exactly what I wanted. I used my super speed to grip his arm and forcibly drag him from the house.

Before Matt could make a move to fight me or call for help, I slammed him into the paneling of his house, choking him. My hold was strong enough to limit his squeals of protest without significantly harming him. Though, you would have thought I was strangling him by the way he kept thrashing around.

I tightened my grip, causing Matt to turn red again, this time from lack of Oxygen. His movements slowed before stopping completely, giving up the fight.

"Are you finished?" I hissed.

Matt tried to shake his head in the affirmative, but my hold on his neck limited the motion. Instead, he made a sort of bobbing movement and his chin quivered. It got the message across.

"Good, now, invite me in," I ordered.

Matt hesitated, but a strong squeeze to his vulnerable neck reminded him of just how little choice he had.

I relaxed my hand so that Matt could choke out a wheezy, "Come in."

I smirked and said, "Thank you so much. You are such a gracious host." Pushing the boy into the house, I closed the door and faced Matt.

Matt was looking pretty pathetic. He rubbed his neck gingerly, glaring at me all the while. His face was pulled into a manly grimace but between his deathly pallor and unflattering haircut it came off as more of a pitiable scowl. Honestly, he reminded me of mashed potatoes. So blonde. So bland.

I glanced around the kitchen and adjoining living room, taking in my surroundings. For a kid that had to earn all of his money from his part time job, he had certainly managed to buy enough junk to clutter up the house. I had seen millionaires with homes more sparsely furnished.

"Why don't you sit down?" I asked, motioning for him to take a seat in one of the chairs at his kitchen table.

"Why don't you sit down?" Matt mimicked back at me, spoiling for a fight.

"I prefer to stand. I find I'm more intimidating that way," I answered honestly but with a healthy dose of snark.

Never removing the unattractive scowl from his face, Matt sat down in the kitchen table and glared up at me with a mutinous expression. It almost made me laugh again when he crossed his arms in front of himself like a spoiled teenager getting yelled at by the principal. This kid was really too much.

"I wanted to talk to you about how you are treating Elena…and Caroline," I tacked on the blonde vampire's name as an afterthought. Tackling the true root of the problem could help prevent another visit in the future.

"You wanted to talk to me about what?" Matt sputtered incredulously.

I sighed, "You are being an ass. From what I have heard, you are supposed to be the nice guy. Yet you are treating the women in your life like shit. That's my job. You need to suck it up and act like a man."

"You have a lot of nerve coming here to defend them to me."

"What is your problem with them? I honestly cannot figure you out," I said, ignoring his outburst.

Matt glared at me in disbelief, "We don't have time to go over all of my problems with them."

"We have as much time as I say we have. And I say we have plenty. Start with Caroline," I insisted.

"Caroline lied to me. She hid the fact that she was a vampire from me for months. That's a pretty big secret to keep from your boyfriend," Matt said heatedly.

"If I recall, she arranged for you to dump her within days of becoming a vampire. You weren't her boyfriend. She did not owe it to you to tell you the truth," I pointed out, "Next problem."

Matt's mouth was gaping as his little brain tried to absorb my logic, but he quickly came up with his next point, "Vampires are killers. Maybe it's not a big deal to you, but I am not okay with it."

"Caroline is hardly a cold-blooded killer. In fact, she has only killed one person. And while if a human said they had killed a person it is reason for concern, for a vampire that is a damn good track record," I explained.

Matt shook his head obstinately, "You don't get a free pass."

"You cannot control it when you are first turned. The bloodlust is…we are insatiable. There is no human experience you can compare it to. We need the blood when we are first turned like you need Oxygen. Only Oxygen doesn't have the added bonus of being orgasmic. That Caroline did not pull a Ted Bundy is a miracle in and of itself," I argued.

Matt pursed his lips, and I could swear I saw the tiniest bit of understanding flicker across his expression. "If she had told me, tried to explain it to me…Instead she ran off with Tyler to solve all of her problems," Matt grumbled, scrambling for the remains of his indignation.

"Are you kidding me? Her nonexistent relationship with your Little League teammate hardly compares to your other problems," I said. _Teenagers_.

"I can't just forgive her just like that. Even if you do make some sense, and I am definitely not saying you are right. Only not completely crazy," Matt qualified, unnecessarily reminding me that he despised me with every fiber of his being.

"You don't have to run to her this second and confess your undying love. You just have to admit that you don't hate the girl. Talk to her. It may not be my cup of tea, but I've heard conflict resolution is best done when two individuals reasonably discuss their problems," I advised.

"Like we are doing now?" Matt questioned glumly. "I always thought the way we would solve our problems is by my driving a stake through your heart."

"It's more likely that I would just kill you, but this isn't really about our problems," I said. "Now, Elena."

Matt grimaced unpleasantly, "If it's possible, I'm even more mad at her. She actually knew about Vicky. The night she died, Elena knew. She didn't tell me."

"In her defense," I began, "I was a pretty not nice guy back then. I probably would have killed you had you known the truth."

"She lied to my face. Even worse, she actually comforted me when she found out Vicky was dead. How could she even look me in the eye?" Matt grumbled.

"Because she was too busy focusing on you. Elena is drawn to other people's pain. Twenty bucks says she becomes a social worker when she is all grown up. She was looking out for you, and in return, you have acted like a first rate jackass," I said sternly. I felt like a parent giving his child a lecture.

Matt did not respond. It was a huge relief to see him finally shut his gaping mouth and listen to reason. Maybe it was a tad ridiculous that he had to deal with such gray moral ground before he could even legally buy porn, but it was what it was. This was the world he had been sucked into, and he needed to bite the goddamn bullet and act like a man.

"I don't know what to do. I care about both of them. Elena's a close friend and Caroline's…"

"I get it. No need to bore me with the details. I know you think you're part of an epic love story, but I've seen it before. You're not that special," I interrupted, "Just be nice to Elena, and we won't have to have this conversation again."

"Why do you care? Do you want me to date her again?" Matt wondered, questioning my understandably confusing interference in the soap opera that was his life.

"Who said anything about dating her?" I demanded, agitation leaking into my voice at the suggestion.

Matt held up his hands in a motion of defeat, "Relax…I've just been so lonely. I miss them."

"Don't mistake this as me caring about your feelings, but this is a town of lonely people. Find me the lucky bastard who has actually found happiness in this godforsaken town, and I'll stake myself," I told him honestly.

This kid meant nothing to me at the end of the day. Remembering Elena's disappointment with my people skills, I tried to sympathize with Matt. I truly tried. But it was a no-go. I could not help but trivialize his feelings. Caring would not help Matt; it would only give me another thing to worry about. I was good without it.

I had summed up the state of Mystic Falls' citizens pretty well. The men all had a bad case of pining after the women they loved. And the women seemed all to happy to settle. I cringed realizing Elena was settling for me.

Matt hung his head and rubbed a meaty hand tiredly across his forehead. I recognized that my work here was done. He had realized I was right, and while he may not act upon it immediately, Matt would do the right thing by Elena.

"So that's about it. Of course, if you tell anyone about vampires I'll kill you and the person you told. Are we clear?"

The pained look on Matt's face made it clear that he understood my threat.

"Can you go now?" Matt muttered, his way of reminding me that he still hated me.

Without answering him, I sped out of his house and back to my car. It was a suitably dramatic exit that would leave Matt stunned and well aware of how unfairly he was outmatched.

I was weighing the pro's and con's of telling Elena about my conversation with Matt as I drove home. My involvement would seem pure if Elena found out naturally. Of course, I had been entirely motivated by selfish reasons, but there was no need for her to know that. Unfortunately, I would have to wait until Matt got his act together and talked to Elena. No one had ever accused me of being a patient man, and I was not sure if I could wait that long.

If I were ever inclined to spy on the daily dramas of humans, the grocery store would be the place to do it. All walks of life – excluding the undead – needed to eat, so the supermarket was a hub of all types of humans representing different races, backgrounds, and classes. Even Carol Lockwood did her own grocery shopping.

Wandering the aisles, I could immerse myself in the petty problems that plagued humans. The barely twenty year old mother of four could not make her brood of brats be quiet for even a minute. The wimpy looking guy could not reach the sauce on the top shelf. The housewife could not find her fifteen percent off coupons.

All of these meaningless issues were actually important in their eyes. To me they meant nothing.

As head of the Founder's Council, it was my job to host the next meeting. With the vampire attacks now nonexistent, the meetings had become an excuse for the Council to pontificate about their successes and relive the memories of the glory days when they removed the scourge of vampirism from Mystic Falls. They did all of this over hors d' oeuvres.

I filled my basket with fancy cut cheeses and crackers. There was no way I was taking time to cook for them. I would just pour the crackers onto a plate, and the Council better appreciate it.

In the beverage aisle, I had the wary feeling of being watched. I spun around, all of my senses on high alert and looked for the perpetrator. I had to fight the urge to let my vampire face to the forefront, since my instincts were screaming at me that I was under attack.

My concern had been unwarranted. Big, brown eyes stared at me as Elena watched me from the other side of the aisle. She looked wary like she did not know how to respond to seeing me. I had to echo the sentiment since I no longer knew how we were supposed to react to seeing each other. Especially in public! Between the sex and the fighting, we could not really greet each other as friends.

When Elena made no move to acknowledge me, I rolled my eyes and turned to leave. If she wanted to be a little bitch and pretend that I didn't exist, I would not try to stop her.

"Damon!" Elena called.

The desire to run to her was overwhelming, but I fought it. My pride was too wounded to deal with her. She could hire a skywriter to get my attention, and I would still pretend I had not noticed her.

My attempt to get away was stopped when Bonnie rounded the corner and barreled straight into me. Her arms had been piled up with bags of chips and tasty cakes. All of which were now scattered on the linoleum floor.

"If looks could kill – oh, wait, yours can," I joked, watching Bonnie's naturally pretty face twist into a mask of pure loathing.

"You could help," Bonnie snapped, leaning down to pick up all of the dropped junk food.

My next clever remark was cut off by Elena appearing at my side.

"Hey, Damon," Elena said breathlessly. She looked so fucking eager.

"Elena, did you choose a soda?" Bonnie asked, cutting off my chance to respond.

Elena reluctantly looked away from me to face Bonnie. "I want Cherry Coke," she said.

Without waiting to see if Elena wanted to talk to me, I walked away towards the cash register. The sooner I could get out of here the better. Earlier, I had wanted nothing more than to see her again, and now I wanted to avoid her at all costs. At any rate, a grocery store was not the appropriate venue for our next conversation.

"Damon!" Elena's insistent voice stopped me in the parking lot.

"What, Elena?" I asked, turning to finally grant her my full attention.

"Thanks for bringing back my car," she said nervously.

I rolled my eyes, "You're welcome Elena."

"I'm sleeping over at Bonnie's tonight," Elena began, nibbling on her plush lower lip, "But I wanted to talk to you first. Do you mind giving me a ride with you to the boarding house? So, we can talk?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you only like me because I give you orgasms and drive you places," I muttered, motioning for her to get in the passenger seat of my car.

I climbed into the car and watched as Elena settled down in her seat. She glanced over at me with the same plaintive expression she had been wearing since I saw her. It was creepy.

In a quiet voice, Elena said, "Damon, I really want to apologize for last night. I know that you aren't Mr. Sympathetic. I should not have expected you to understand."

I gripped the steering wheel tightly. Was that her idea of how to say sorry? She had slipped an insult in masked with the sweetness of her voice. Her apology left something to be desired.

"Maybe I would have been sympathetic if you had given me a chance. I got five words out before you turned into a screeching harpy!"

"A harpy?" Elena said in an outraged voice, our conversation quickly escalating into another fight, "I don't even know why I bother with you. You are disgusting. A pig!"

If I was human, I would have worried about my blood pressure. Elena was without a doubt the most infuriating woman on the planet. Had she ever admitted to being wrong in her life?

"You are the one who loves it when the disgusting pig fucks you," I shot back.

"Don't worry! I won't be letting you fuck me again!" Elena shouted.

"I hate to shatter your illusions, princess, but you aren't doing me any favors by letting me touch your virginal skin. You came to me."

"And you loved every second of it!" Elena said hotly.

I snickered darkly, "Elena, you are projecting. You are a seventeen year old girl with next to no experience in bed. A couple hundred dollars could buy me a woman that would do a better job than you."

Of course, this was a ridiculous lie. Lack of experience had never prevented Elena from being an absolute wildcat. She was my perfect match and made the same old motions suddenly new and exciting again.

"Fuck you," Elena hissed.

Without warning, Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and launched herself towards me. For a moment, I thought she was trying to tackle me. To my complete surprise and pleasure, she immediately latched onto my neck with her mouth. She sucked at my neck hard enough to leave a hickey that almost immediately faded thanks to my fast healing. Elena growled, unhappy that she was unable to mark me. She was giving it a hell of a go though, biting when the sucking failed.

I was immediately hard. It was a miracle I was able to maintain enough focus not to drive us off the road and into a ditch. God, I had to be inside her. Fuck her into submission. My anger and frustration from the past twenty-four hours were now mixing with my lust. It was a dangerous combination.

Elena groped me with her hand, running her palm up and down the bulge in my pants. The sensation was too much. I needed to be released from the confines of my jeans immediately. Elena seemed to be of the same mind as me and unzipped my jeans so that she could wrap her hand fully around my cock.

I moaned loudly as she moved her hand up and down. The combination of her lips and teeth on my neck and hand on my cock had me fighting to control my release. I seemed to have lost all control over the noises I was making and began to groan like I had never had a hand job before.

"Can you get it this good from any slut you pick up at a bar?" Elena hissed in my ear, nibbling on the lobe with ferocity.

I parked the car at the house and pulled Elena down onto my lap. Our lips met in a hungry kiss made more of teeth than lips. Viciously, Elena pulled my hair, "Answer me." Her hand continued its work between our writhing bodies, driving me to the brink of insanity.

"You're the… the…" I gasped wildly, prepared to say anything she wanted to hear.

At the last moment, I remembered that I needed to be in charge and sped both of us out of the car and to the front door. Elena immediately wrapped both her legs around me so that she was completely clinging to my body. We barreled through the front door, and I slammed Elena into the wall. She let out a mewl of pain but, if anything, kissed me harder.

I ripped at her shirt, pulling it over her head so that I could once again see her perfect breasts. Her bra was less lucky. Impatient, I tore it in half down the front and then dragged the remaining shreds off her body. Similarly, Elena tore at the buttons of my shirt, ripping wherever she did not have the patience to unbutton.

In order to take off her jeans, I set Elena down on her own two feet. She fought me bitterly, tightening her grip around my waist and grinding against my erection. Realizing what I wanted, however, Elena quickly shimmied out of her jeans and boy shorts.

Without bothering to further prepare her, I drove into her. I paused to let her adjust for a moment before setting a furious pace within her. Elena was screaming, her cries an indication of her pleasurable agony. This was not sex. This was fucking. I was getting all of my frustrations out in the most primal way possible.

Elena seemed to thrive under my rough treatment. Her head was thrown backwards, giving me a perfect angle to her neck. For the first time since our affair started, I seriously considered biting her. I placed frantic kisses across her neckline and above her chest, teasing myself with the way her skin blushed wherever my lips fell. The violence of our coupling had my vampire face breaking free, and I slid a fang gently across her chest. With an enormous effort, I made the decision not to bite her yet. Not without her permission.

More frustrated than ever, I fucked her into the wall. With every slam, her body crashed against the wall with bruising force.

"Fuck! Damon, don't stop!" Elena screamed, "Please don't ever stop fucking me!"

I growled happily, hearing her scream for me. In our battle for dominance, I had won. Elena slammed her hips into mine, meeting me thrust for thrust until I came. I released myself inside of her, my legs shaking from the intensity of my orgasm. Elena followed me right over the edge within seconds and bit down on my shoulder to muffle what would have been a bloodcurdling cry.

I pulled out of Elena and helped her to stand. Her hair was a tangled mess tossed about in every direction. She was flushed and breathing heavily. With every panting breath her chest rose and fell recapturing my attention. She was the most sensuous woman I had ever seen.

Pulling her into my arms, I whispered to her, "Of course, I can't get anyone better. You are the best I have _ever_ had."

**A/N: Matt being compared to mashed potatoes is credited entirely to the Vampire Diaries reviewer at TV Guide. And my descriptions of Matt are mean because they are from Damon's perspective. I personally love Matt.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: With this chapter, I can confidently say my story has featured Matt more than the entire TV series. I'm wrapping up this chapter of his story so we might not be seeing as much of him, but he's had a good run.**

Elena's POV

"Damon, I really have to leave," I giggled, trying to pull myself out of his arms.

"No," Damon protested, "You really don't."

Since his sweet confession, we had ended up on the couch for a considerably gentler coupling than our violent sex when we first arrived at the house. I winced, rolling my shoulder. My body felt like it had been steamrolled. All of the aches, however, were a fair trade for the mind-blowing sex.

Damon kissed my face, trying to convince me to stay. His lips gently pressed against my cheeks, my nose, my eyelids. I laughed as his hand subtly slipped to my thighs. He massaged arousing circles into my skin, making me breathless.

I turned my face away from him "I promised Bonnie we'd sleep over, and Caroline will be there. If I don't show up, she'll look for me. And we wouldn't want her to find us like this."

We looked like a picture out of a magazine. The picture of domestic tranquility. Well, pornographic, domestic tranquility. Damon was holding me in his strong arms, a blanket thrown across our nude bodies. The fire crackled, throwing shadowy orange light throughout the house. The whole setting was darkly sensual like something out of a vampire movie. If there was one thing Hollywood had gotten right, it was that vampires were creatures of seduction.

I managed to squirm out of Damon's hold. His hands lingered on my hips as I stood, but he did not fight me when I started to scan the room for my discarded clothes. I found my underwear and jeans on the floor and started to get dressed.

"Will you come back tomorrow? I have the stupid Founder's Council meeting tomorrow night, but you could come during the afternoon."

"I have school, Damon," I started to say no, but his borderline pleading expression made me backtrack, "I could come for lunch."

"Good," he said, relaxing now that I had promised to see him.

"I actually have to eat," I warned. I knew all too well how easy it would be to become distracted.

Damon smirked, "I'll make you lunch if you promise to eat really fast."

I picked up the shredded cloth that had once been my bra and held it up so that Damon could see. His smirk grew more pronounced.

"Oops," he said cheekily.

"You might want to lend me a sweatshirt or something," I suggested.

"Your shirt was pretty tight, wasn't it?" Damon teased.

Scowling, I threw on my shirt forgoing the bra. It was downright obscene. Damon unapologetically leered at my chest. The fabric clung tightly to my breasts and my hard nipples were clearly visible poking through the thin material.

"Are you sure you can't stay for just a few more minutes?" Damon asked.

He stood up and walked over to stand in front of me. His hands glided up and down my sides, his fingers gently brushing against the sides of my curves.

"Just get me something to wear," I ordered.

Defeated, he dropped his hands to his sides. "Fine, put on my jacket, and I'll drive you…to Bonnie's?"

"No, she texted me earlier, we're having the slumber party at my house now," I explained.

Damon helped me slide into his leather jacket. The jacket fit way too large on me. I felt like I was being swallowed alive in musky leather. I made a conscious effort not to bury my face in the leather and breathe in Damon's scent. It was one step too lovesick for my taste.

Even though he clearly was not happy about it, Damon drove me home. He even managed to keep the complaints to a minimum.

I managed to sneak into my house without running into Jenna but was not so lucky with Jeremy.

"Hey, how was your day?" Jeremy greeted me from the landing as I walked up the stairs.

"Good," I said, wrapping Damon's jacket more closely around my body to better conceal myself.

"Bonnie said you completely disappeared when you two went to the grocery store," Jeremy mentioned casually.

My eyes widened in panic before I answered, "You know the two of you as a tag team know all of my secrets."

Jeremy laughed, "So where'd you run off too?"

"I was with a friend," I shrugged ambivalently, "So, Bonnie's coming over, and you know you can't hang out with us, right?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Yes, Elena, I know. I'm not welcome at the sleepover."

"Just checking," I giggled, climbing the stairs to get my room.

"Hey, Elena, is that Damon's jacket?" Jeremy asked in a surprised voice.

I froze outside of the room, "No."

"Yes, it is," Jeremy argued, "He wears it all the time."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. We ran into him – me and Bonnie – today at the grocery store, and…I didn't have a jacket, so he gave me his…because I was cold," I stumbled over my words in a shaky voice.

"Ok," Jeremy said slowly, giving me a look usually reserved for people in mental hospitals.

"You know what, I never see Damon. If I give you the jacket, will you return it for me?"

"No problem," Jeremy agreed, "I'll give it to him next time I see him."

I nodded eagerly, "Good night."

"Don't stay up too late, Elena. I think you could use some more sleep," Jeremy advised.

I rushed to put on a bra the moment I was in the privacy of my room. Damon's jacket was left in a crumpled heap on the floor. In a fit of spite, I kicked Damon's jacket into the corner, stomping a white foot print into the leather with my boot.

I was not mad with Damon, per say, I was mad at the situation. Jeremy had connected me and Damon together. He may not know what we were doing, but it was still too close for comfort. No one could know about our relationship. No one. This was Virginia. There was a Baptist church on almost every street corner. Far more menacing, I was in high school. No one could possibly accept the nature of my relationship with Damon.

I had as a kid every intention of waiting until marriage to have sex. My parents had not raised me too conservatively but they certainly advocated the benefits of abstinence to me and Jeremy. The only reason I had caved and had sex with Matt was because I truly believed he would be the only one. Jeremy remained a virgin until after my parents died.

Now, I had willingly signed onto a relationship purely based on sex. Fantastic, animal sex. Even more shameful, I had sought it out. I was not the poor victim, manipulated into this self-gratifying relationship. I was the hedonist.

Damon and I were finally in a good place. The kinks in our situation had been stamped out, and I wanted to really begin our lessons in earnest. However, it needed to remain a secret. This may make perfect sense to me, but everyone else would think I was a slut.

Bonnie and Caroline drove separately but managed to arrive at the door within seconds of each other. I opened the door to reveal an excited looking Bonnie and a happily anxious Caroline walking up the drive. Bonnie was laden down with shopping bags containing the food we had bought.

"I have to tell you something. It's big!" Bonnie squealed.

"Me too," chirped Caroline, rushing forward to push past us into the house.

"Bonnie first," I refereed.

Caroline made an impatient face but did not argue.

The three of us walked into the living room. Caroline and I sat down on the couch and Bonnie plopped down on the floor, crossing her legs Indian-style. She set up all of the snacks we had bought at the grocery store on the coffee table.

"Okay, spill," I said, absentmindedly eating a licorice treat from the array of snacks.

Bonnie whipped her head around, curls flying. She carefully glanced around the entire room, making sure no one was listening to our conversation.

"We're alone, Bonnie," Caroline assured her, trying to rush her along, "I don't know if the house has been bugged, but the FBI's off your trail, so I think we're clear."

"I was just making sure Jeremy's not around," Bonnie explained, "It's about him."

"Oh my God!" Caroline shrieked, "Are you breaking up with him?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I could not give Bonnie advice on how to dump my brother. It would break his heart.

I knew they were too good to be true.

"No, Caroline! I'm not breaking up with him. I'm…I'm planning on sleeping with him."

I spoke too soon.

This was a big deal for Bonnie. She had never come close to having sex with anyone before. Her past boyfriends often got shutdown at second base. I was torn between excitement for my best friend and the requisite eww factor that she wanted to sleep with my brother.

"Oh my God! Skank!" Caroline cheered happily.

Bonnie looked a little startled by Caroline's term of endearment but recovered quickly, "Yeah well, things have been so perfect between us, it just feels right."

I smiled encouragingly at her, "Not everyone gets that. If you are going to do it, I want you to feel comfortable. And if that's my brother, then you should go for it."

"Besides, you're way too pretty to be a virgin," Caroline joked.

"How should I, you know, approach him?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, you don't just buy a thong and jump him. At least not the first time," Caroline instructed.

"You'll both want to be prepared so that means talking about it ahead of time so you are both ready," I added.

Bonnie frowned, "I want it to still be a little spontaneous.

"Spontaneous gets you pregnant," Caroline advised, "I'm not ready to see a newborn fly by on a broomstick, so talk to him first."

"It won't be romantic if you do all of the set up yourself. Let him show you how much he loves you. If you give him a heads up, he can make it romantic," I wheedled.

"Do you think he'll buy candles?" Bonnie wondered, practically swooning over the straight-out-of-a-movie scene she had undoubtedly painted in her head.

"No!" Caroline snorted. "Not unless it's a joke about your candle lighting powers."

I elbowed Caroline before sensitively saying, "You want to mention to Jeremy you want candles. Boys are clueless."

"I am so nervous," Bonnie said, "You'll both have to give me tons of pep talks and advice."

"Pep talks definitely but I may let Caroline do most of the work on this one. I sometimes still think of Jeremy as the seven year old boy who wouldn't change his Spiderman underpants.

"Spiderman underwear? Really?" Bonnie laughed.

"Can I please tell you my thing?" Caroline interrupted anxiously.

"Go for it," Bonnie said gamely, switching the focus of the conversation to Caroline.

Caroline beamed and said, "Matt called me!"

My brow furrowed in confusion, Matt was livid with both us. If he called, it would be only to yell. Well, Matt was not one to yell, but he would be angry. Maybe, Caroline thought that was better than being ignored altogether.

"What did he say?" Bonnie pressed eagerly.

"He said he didn't blame me for Vicky's death and he knows I'm still the same old Caroline and that he wants us to talk," Caroline gushed.

Caroline had never looked more beautiful than in that moment. Her smile was entirely genuine, revealing her white teeth. Her eyes were sparkling without a hint of malice. Most remarkably, her face was practically glowing not from foundation but from a radiant happiness emanating from deep within her.

"Elena," Caroline continued, "I don't know what you said to him but thank you."

"I hadn't thought I had gotten through to him," I said surprised.

"Well, it worked," Caroline giggled.

"I'm sorry, you should have gone first," Bonnie said, "Your thing was bigger."

Caroline shook her head vehemently, "No way, you finally unlocking the chastity belt is a _huge_ deal. It's a tie."

"Did Matt say anything about me?" I asked Caroline.

Caroline shook her head, "Sorry, he just talked about me and our relationship."

"This is completely out of left field. The last time we talked he told me I was dead to him, so I need to know if he still feels that way," I admitted.

"I can't believe he said that," Bonnie gasped.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Caroline wondered sympathetically.

"I didn't want to crush you, Caroline. He wasn't exactly more complementary about you," I told her, "I was looking out for you."

"Well, if he forgave me, he must have forgiven you too," Caroline pointed out.

My drama with Matt had been bothering me for days. Every time I had come close to having a happy moment, the situation to which I had condemned Matt would flash through my mind and sully the moment. It weighed heavily on my conscious, a sickly guilt that made it impossible for me to appreciate the most basic things. If Matt was truly ready to reconcile, it would remove an enormous burden from my conscience.

"I know this makes me a horrible hostess, but will you guys hate me if I run out to see Matt now?" I asked.

Bonnie looked at me like I was crazy, "Elena! We're in the middle of a sleepover."

"I know, but it's driving me crazy. I'll be fast," I begged.

I looked at Caroline imploringly. If anyone would understand why I had to see Matt now, not later, it would be Caroline. After all, I had watched her tear herself apart not being able to ease any of Matt's pain. I had never before seen Caroline be as selfless as she was with Matt. Instead of being unhappy purely because she missed him, she was miserable because she had hurt him. For months she had done nothing but plot different ways to fix the damage she had caused. Now, she had finally succeeded in her mission.

"Fine," Caroline sighed, "but we are eating all of the food unless you get back quick."

Like all three of us could possibly consume the amount of food we had bought.

I smiled, glad that they were willing to hangout alone until I had finished talking to Matt. "I'll be back so fast you won't even miss me," I promised, leaping up to grab my keys and sneakers.

"Impossible, Elena," Bonnie teased, "I yearn for you every minute you are away."

"The feeling's mutual," I promised, walking out the door.

"Don't be long in returning to us, lover!" Caroline called as I closed the front door behind me.

I realized belatedly that I did not know whether Matt would be at home or working a shift at the Grille. Since his house was a little closer to my house, I figured I would try the Grille out only if I finding Matt at his house did not pan out first.

Lights were on at Matt's house so I figured he was home. That or he was being robbed.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" Matt asked upon opening the door.

"Caroline told me about how nice you were to her," I explained abruptly.

"Yeah, well, I've been told I'm a nice guy," Matt joked.

He smiled at me more warmly than he had in months. I found myself grinning back, happy that he was being so friendly.

"You are definitely a nice guy, Matt Donovan," I laughed, "Can I come in?"

Matt winced slightly, "Only if you don't need me to say the words. Sorry, it's my policy."

I was anything but offended. It was a relief that Matt took precautions against vampires. The last thing I needed was Katherine to scheme her way into his house pretending to be me and rip his throat out someday.

"No need for an invite," I assured him with a smirk, "See?"

I slid around Matt and walked inside. He followed me, grabbing two sodas from the fridge as he passed it. We sat down on the couch and studied each other for a moment.

"So, are we good?" I asked the question that I had been dying to ask since I had arrived.

Matt thought about it for a moment before answering, "We're not perfect, but we are good."

"Not that I'm complaining, but a few days ago you were ready to completely wash your hands of me," I reminded him.

"I am not happy that you lied to me, but I get why you did it. Vicky and everything else that happened weren't your fault. I would have to be a jerk to blame you for it."

"And you, Mr. Football Captain-American Dream, are no jerk," I teased.

"I try not to be," Matt laughed with a what-can-I-do shrug.

"It means a lot, Matt, that you are willing to forgive me," I said quietly, promptly shifting the tone of our conversation.

Matt sighed, "I promised you a long time ago that I would never give up on you. Sorry if I haven't been living up to that lately."

"How'd I get so lucky? You are a truly great friend," I said.

I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Matt held me tightly, pressing his face into the crook of my neck. A feeling of intimacy we had not shared since my parents deaths passed between us. We could make it through this vampire mess.

"I've missed you," I whispered into his chest.

After a minute, Matt pulled away, "When Damon first showed up I couldn't believe it. The nerve of him to tell me how to treat you and Caroline, you know? But the dick made some good points. He set me straight on some things."

I blinked sluggishly, replaying Matt's words in my head. Did he say Damon? I had to have not heard him correctly.

"Damon talked to you?"

Matt nodded and said, "He came by yesterday."

My brain still refused to process what Matt was saying. "Damon talked to you? Crazy, blue eyes, leather jacket. That Damon?"

"Yes, Elena. _That_ Damon," Matt said.

"What did he say to you?" I demanded, curious about what Damon could possibly have to say to Matt. How could Damon get through to Matt when I could not, anyway?

"Basically what you said," he admitted, "He just point by point told me I was being an idiot."

I stared at him incredulously, "Are you two, what, friends?"

"No!"

"Well, he's giving you girl advice! I just don't get it," I defended myself.

Matt shrugged, "Maybe a good person possessed his body for a moment. Who knows."

I sat there on Matt's cloth couch trying to make sense of the senseless. Damon had never exhibited the slightest inclination to talk to Matt. Ever. Without outright saying it, I knew Damon regarded Matt with thinly veiled contempt. Damon could not summon a hint of empathy for normal humans. Generally, their problems had to be of an elevated and gruesome scope to even warrant his attention. Morbid topics like death were the only things that could stir the remnants of sympathy in his soul. Yes, many of Matt's problems had been derived from death, but Damon had stubbornly consigned Matt to the world of the mundane and unimportant.

That left only one possible motivation for Damon's interference. The realization was an all-consuming thought. Damon cared. It was beautiful in its simplicity. Not only did Damon care, he cared enough to proactively try to improve my life.

I was nearly paralyzed by joy. I had actually managed to crack Damon's hard, lifeless veneer. It had taken a figurative drill to demolish his stubborn façade. All of the carousing and his may-care attitude was an act that completely fell apart by him revealing his propensity for caring. I felt vindicated in my insistence that I should never give up on him.

Twinges of guilt racked my conscience. I had been unforgivably nasty to him when I first told him about Matt. Maybe he could not show me sympathy through words, but that did not mean he did not care. If I was being honest, I had expected him to be a disappointment and had not truly given him the opportunity to prove me wrong. I had acted like a sanctimonious bitch! It further revealed the depth of the generosity of his spirit that he forgave me at all. Who would have ever thought to use "generosity of spirit" when discussing Damon?

"Are you okay?" Matt asked hesitantly.

My body jumped, startled by the intrusion into my scrambling thoughts, "Hmm?"

"Elena, you are freaking me out," Matt laughed good-naturedly, "You started giggling."

I had not even realized the noises I had started to make. It was just the happiness and ridiculousness of the situation was getting to me. The giddy feeling that had spread through my body left me feeling warm and tingly. It was almost equivalent to being buzzed. Pull yourself together, Gilbert, I scolded, you are acting like a lunatic.

"We should all definitely hang out – you, me, and Caroline," I suggested.

"Caroline and I should probably hang out alone with each other first," Matt said.

"Eww, definitely. I don't want to be there when you two…make up," I wrinkled my nose.

"You're funny."

I smiled largely at him, "Thanks, Matt, for everything. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good," Matt agreed.

We hugged quickly, and I left him to drive home. I was halfway back to my house when everything became too much. I could not think straight. I knew that Caroline and Bonnie were waiting patiently at my house. The right thing would have been to return home that moment, but wasn't throwing away my responsibilities and rebelling against the world's expectations what I had intended all along? It was the entire point of what I was doing with Damon.

Without making a conscious decision, I turned away from my house and sped towards the Salvatore boardinghouse. I had to see Damon. He had done something beautiful for me after I had treated him like shit. Thanking him was my first priority.

The drive on a normal day would have taken twenty minutes. I made it in twelve. It was almost disturbing how strongly I was drawn to Damon in that moment. If I had the presence of mind to analyze the situation, I would have probably run screaming in the other direction.

Upon arriving at the house, I did not bother knocking, instead bursting through the front door, which Damon always carelessly left unlocked.

"Damon!" I called breathlessly, searching the downstairs for him, "Are you home?"

No one answered. I did a cursory search of the house, but Damon was nowhere to be found. Disappointed, I walked around the house, examining all of the antique intricacies that made it such a fascinating place. I walked upstairs before stopping abruptly outside the room at the end of the hall. Stefan's room.

Immediately after Stefan had left, I had come to this room to cry. I had not really seen the room those days because I was blinded by a veil of tears. When I had slowly started to recover, I had locked his bedroom away along with all of my other memories of Stefan. I had avoided this room because it was too painful to remember what I had lost.

Steeling myself, I opened the door and went inside. Everything was exactly as I remembered it. The ornate bed still had the same light blue sheets. His spiced pumpkin scented candle still sat on his dresser. When I had teased him about the unmanly scent, he had admitted that it reminded him of home when he was still guileless and human. I smiled at the bittersweet memory. The conversation had taken place immediately after an emotionally charged bout of lovemaking.

I opened his top dresser drawer. It was empty like I knew it would be. Wherever Stefan was, he would need socks. Unless Katherine was keeping him in a perpetual state of undress while they had primal, vampire sex…okay, I should not go there.

Closing the drawer, I bent down to open the bottom drawer. It was a relief to find his old baseball still carefully placed among the contents of the drawer. He had not truly disappeared from my life, his roots were still here. This had been the baseball he had played with growing up. Stefan had paid top dollar to have it restitched and refurbished over the years. In fading ink, you could see the signatures of the 1928 Yankees baseball team. Stefan had laughed imagining his neighbors reactions during his human life had they known he would someday support a sports team called the "Yankees."

Mixed with the expected pain at revisiting all of these old memories was acceptance. It no longer tore me apart that Stefan was gone. I took solace in the realization that he would never be completely gone from my life because I would always have memories. Our love was real, and I should cherish not mourn its memory.

I had no idea when I had become so deep.

I stood up and cast one more longing glance around the room. When I walked out into the hall, it was with a sense of closure or, at least, as close as I was ever going to get to it.

Not sure what else to do, I decided to wait in Damon's bed. His bed really was enormous. I felt like I was mountain climbing as I lifted one leg after the other onto the bed. How many people could he fit on this thing? I wondered if he knew but realized of course he knew. The Damon I was familiar with would never miss out on an opportunity to have an orgy.

I laid my head down on a pillow and snuggled into the plush mattress. Silk sheets be damned – the high thread count Egyptian cotton on Damon's bed had to be the most luxurious fabric in the world. I blissed out surrounded by all of the comforts the bed offered. Before I realized what was happening, my eyes grew heavy and I slipped into a deep sleep.

"Elena," a far away voice called, "wake up, love." I felt a hand gently stroke against my forehead, moving the hair out of my face.

"Hey," I murmured sleepily to Damon when I opened my eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Damon questioned.

I smiled at his confused expression, "I wanted to see you."

Damon looked so sweet. Unworried that I would study him too carefully in my sleepy state, Damon relaxed many of the shields he kept up most of the time. His inky black hair was cut a little messy making him appear less stern, a welcome contrast to his regal features. The straight arch of his nose hinted at an intelligence and a spirit capable of shouldering many burdens. Lazily, I reached forward to trace the sensuous curves of his lips. His lips that molded so perfectly to mine.

"You're really beautiful," I whispered.

Gently, Damon nipped at my intruding finger. He slowly sucked it into his mouth. I watched my finger slowly disappear deeper into the wet cavern of his mouth. He licked around the edges of my finger and my fingertip, reminding me exactly what he could do with his tongue.

Releasing my finger, he smacked his lips together making a popping sound. I giggled at his theatrics. He promptly quirked his eyebrows up and down in a comical ways to make me laugh even harder.

"I talked to Matt," I told him, watching the flash of understanding appear in his eyes, "Thank you. It was above and beyond."

"Believe it or not, I do want you to be happy," Damon said seriously.

"Even after how mean I was…" I trailed off.

Damon smirked, "You're not worried you hurt my feelings are you? I'm a scary vampire, I don't have feelings."

"I do not believe that."

Damon shrugged noncommittally in response.

"Can I make it up to you?" I purred, using the sultriest voice in my admittedly limited arsenal.

"What did you have in mind?" Damon asked, his tone shifting into a voice so sexy it could make John Mayer question his sexuality.

I intertwined my fingers with his, answering, "Well, when you were sucking on my finger earlier, you gave me some ideas. Want to coach me through it?"

With a swift movement, Damon flipped us so that he was no longer hovering over me but rather lying beneath my lithe body.

"Is that a yes?" I murmured coyly.

"You have a sense of humor today," Damon growled.

I slithered down his body, pressing myself suggestively against him as I dipped lower. I ran my hand lightly across his covered crotch. Ever so gently, I kneaded my fingertips against the stiff denim. The bulge in his jeans grew more noticeable as Damon enjoyed my ministrations.

"Take off your shirt," Damon ordered, watching me intently.

I sat up straight to pull my top over my head. My bra came next, leaving me bare on top and my lower body encased in skintight jeans.

"I feel like Brooke Shields," I said.

"Hotter," Damon countered in a lusty tone.

The tenor of his voice sent a wave of hut lust coursing through my body. Roughly, I unbuckled his belt, tossing it to the side after pulling it from the belt loops. His pants followed next as Damon obligingly lifted his hips so that I could tear them off his body.

Yanking his boxers down, I unveiled Damon's thick, fully-aroused cock. I wrapped my hands around him confidently and began to pump his shaft up and down. Damon's body lurched slightly and not an "oh-god-you're-amazing" lurch. Looking up, I saw he was placing multiple pillows beneath his shoulders and back. From his new angle, he could see everything I was doing with an unobstructed view.

"I'm going to teach you about some of the pleasure spots on a man's penis that you probably don't know about," Damon said.

I tauntingly flicked my tongue out to lap at his tip before pulling back.

"Sure," I replied.

Damon seemed to be warring between amusement and displeasure at my teasing. It was fun trying to get him worked up.

"Since you seemed so interested in that area, we'll start with meatus," Damon instructed, "It's the tiny hole at the very tip of my dick. Most people don't even realize how great that spot is because they don't notice it. It's supersensitive so you don't want to ignore it."

Hesitantly, I located the tiny hole where he said it would be. Like I had before, I gently rubbed my tongue against the tip only this time specifically focusing on the little opening. I started to move my tongue back and forth across the area, but Damon reached a hand down to pause my movements.

"Just use the tip of your tongue and use more pressure but not too much," Damon gave me further direction.

Following his instructions, I lingeringly thrust my tongue against his meatus a few times. Damon groaned happily. I was pleased to be doing it right now. After all, I was trying to earn his forgiveness with this little exercise. What was the point if I did not do it properly?

"Such a good girl," Damon crooned, "You can stop now."

I pulled my head away from his cock and stared up at him. His eyes were burning with lustful intensity. He needed to hurry these lessons along, or I would cum without him even touching me. Just the image of him looking so turned on was making me burn up in excitement.

"The most important part of the penis is the frenulum. It's what brings the most potential pleasure during sex. It's got lots of nerves and other science-y reasons for why it is so powerful, but all you need to really know is to give it lots of attention," Damon explained.

"Where is it?" I asked, gliding my hands over his penis as if that would somehow reveal the knowledge of where I could find this elusive part of his anatomy.

"Just beneath the head on the underside," Damon explained, "This is the part of a man's dick that he gets pierced."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "Fun fact."

"Fun fact. You'll just want to lick against it with a flat or soft tongue. When you put everything together, you would use your hand to stroke upwards and downwards while your mouth pays attention to other areas," Damon continued.

"Is it this?" I asked, tracing the fleshy upside down V shaped line I found beneath his head. Damon's head fell back against the pillows at my light touch and his breathing increased. "I think I'll take that as a yes."

Using my tongue, I lapped against it gently. Up and down, I worshipped the little nerve center. The reactions I was getting out of Damon were incredible. While he undoubtedly enjoyed sex with me, he was always fairly composed. I would fall apart screaming and moaning while he would just gasp and groan a lot. It was a major turn-on to see him pushed to such an extreme.

"Ne..Next," Damon gasped, signaling for me to stop my movements.

Huskily, I said, "Tell me more, professor."

"You are so bad sometimes. I like it," Damon licked his lips, "The perineum is the last spot I plan to teach you tonight."

Damon sat up to guide my hand to the spot he was talking about as he spoke, "It's the skin right here between my testicles and anal opening. Just stroke this at any speed or pattern you want and there will be amazing results."

"Like this?" I asked, pumping two of my fingers against the part of his skin he had indicated.

"Just like that," Damon groaned, "Don't try this right now, but if you want to send a guy over the edge, press your knuckle against it. It excites the prostate which is a huge pleasure zone for men. If you do it right now, we'll already be done, so I would wait."

Dammit, I wanted to try it that second. His own fault for making it sound like so much fun. I wanted him to fall apart beneath me. Making him shatter as much as he could make me was my top priority.

"Do whatever you like now. Use what I taught you or not," Damon smirked, "Think of it as a pop quiz."

Settling between his legs, I engulfed his head and part of his shaft in my mouth. My hands came out to play, twisting in different directions against the parts of his shaft that I could not fit into my mouth. Pulling back slightly, I sucked gently on his head while making sure to rub my hands against his frenulum. Damon threaded a hand through my hair, lightly pushing me forward to take more of him into my mouth.

He hit the back of my throat, and I looked up at him unsure of what to do. "Relax the back of your throat and wait a few seconds every time I go a little bit deeper," Damon supplied helpfully.

I flattened my tongue and steadied my breathing to brace myself. Easily, more of Damon slid into my open mouth. I came close to gagging but pulled back slightly before I could. Refusing to be put off by my set back, I slowly reclaimed his cock until he was as deep inside me as he could possibly go.

"It is so fucking hot watching my cock disappear into your hot little mouth. You have no idea," Damon said huskily.

I purred at his praise, sending vibrations shooting up his most sensitive areas. I laved my tongue around the sides of his cock, making sure not to neglect any part of him. Slowly, I bobbed my head up and down. All of this was extremely sexy. Hearing Damon moan made me feel like a sex goddess. After all, Damon must have received blow jobs from how many women? I had to be doing a good job if he was enjoying it.

"Fuck, you're amazing," Damon gasped.

I moaned around his cock. It could not possibly be normal to be so wet just from touching a man. I could feel my jeans becoming wet as I was so aroused it was seeping through my panties.

Anxious to finally see just how powerful the perineum could be, I slid my hand to the patch of skin and gently rubbed my fingers against it. Damon bucked up into my mouth making me gag slightly. I accidentally swallowed around his cock, which made him press my head even tighter to his dick. He was going to suffocate me!

Wanting to end it before I passed out from lack of Oxygen, I pressed my knuckle hard against his perineum. I could now say from firsthand experience that Damon did not overstate its power. Without any further stimulation, Damon came in my mouth. His dick jerked, and I hastily swallowed as much as I could. A constant stream of curse words mixed with shouts of my name flowed from Damon's mouth.

I wiped the remnants of his cum that I had not swallowed off of my mouth with the sheet. Damon looked completely exhausted.

"You're sweaty," I commented, inspecting the glistening moisture that had collected all over his sinful body.

"You're a goddess," Damon retorted.

"Well, I'll be sure to remember the little people that made me when I enter Valhalla," I joked.

His praise thrilled me to no end. I wanted to suck him off every day. Twice a day!

"Normally, I would return the favor, but I can't summon the energy. Do you mind if I go to sleep?" Damon asked.

"Not if you don't mind if I sleep with you," I replied.

Damon studied me for a moment, "You're spending the night?"

"Why not? I'm here; it's late. I just put in a hard day's work."

Damon pulled me into his arms, so that I rested against his hard body. I curled into him and nuzzled my head into the crook of his arm.

"Sleep," Damon said sweetly.

We were exhausted, and it was all too easy for both of us to fall asleep. My first night in Damon's bed. Wrapped in his arms.

**A/N: I have two concerns that I would really appreciate some advice on: 1) Do I write Caroline too much like season 1 Caroline? I feel like I don't do a good job of portraying her as the strong woman she is in this season. How can I fix that? 2) Do I use too much description during the mundane parts of the story? There's no such thing as too much description in the smut so I'm not worried about that, but in an effort to avoid time lapses do I explain things that are implied? Any other feedback is of course appreciated. I had a lot of fun with this chapter and want to know what everyone else thinks.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and feedback last chapter. I really enjoy reading other people's thoughts on each chapter.**

I woke up five minutes before my cell phone alarm was set to go off. I blinked heavily, willing the remnants of sleep away. Damon was lying on his stomach with his face smashed into the soft flesh of my breasts. I had to fight back a laugh. _Even in his sleep_.

Wanting to start getting ready for school, I squirmed and murmured Damon's name. I called louder when he did not respond. Damon made a noise of contentment and nuzzled closer into my chest. He was deeply embedded in my cleavage, causing me to roll my eyes. Losing patience, I grabbed a handful of Damon's hair and yanked, wrenching his head back.

Damon woke up with a vengeance. Within second, Damon slammed both of my arms above my head and bared down at me with fangs on full display. I froze and stared at him in wide-eyed fear. He was so menacing that my body instinctually struggled against his iron grip.

Understanding dawned in Damon's eyes, and he rolled off of me immediately. I rubbed my wrists gingerly; they would surely bruise.

"Shit, Elena, I am so sorry," Damon apologized, "You scared me and I reacted on instinct."

"It's okay, just don't do it again," I breathed shakily.

Damon pulled me up against his chest. He stroked my back soothingly and placed kisses against my hair.

"I am sorry I scared you," Damon said sincerely.

The alarm on my phone went off. I pulled away from Damon to turn it off.

"I have to take a shower and get ready for school," I told him.

"You know what would help you get ready faster?" Damon said, his voice suddenly transforming from contrite to husky.

He buried his head in my neck and placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss against my skin. Damon nuzzled and nipped, more than earning my forgiveness for his earlier aggression. Tracing my clavicle with his tongue, Damon peered up at my face.

"I could help you shower," Damon whispered, moving upwards to tickle the shell of my ear with his hot breath.

I tried to ignore the electric tingles from his kisses to point out, "That won't save me any time at all."

"You shampoo. I scrub. We'll be done in no time," Damon cajoled.

My resolve weakened – not that it had been particularly strong in the first place. I was well aware of our shared nakedness. The hard planes of his body pressing against my side as he hovered over me made it impossible to forget. The sensation was a not ignorable reminder of how deliciously sinful it was when Damon was buried inside of me. With my arousal increasing, a shower was definitely in order.

"Fine," I acquiesced, "We better make it fast though."

Damon grinned every bit the Cheshire cat. He stretched out his arms, reaching for me, but I leapt out of the bed and away from him.

"Catch me, baby," I cooed playfully before racing for the bathroom.

I barely made it to the bathroom door ten feet away before Damon snatched me up by the waist. My feet hung momentarily suspended in the air as Damon held me tightly against his chest. He propelled me forward into the bathroom, never breaking his hold around my waist.

"Now that I've caught you, what should I do with you?" he growled, rubbing his erection against the small of my back.

"Do you really need my suggestions?" I teased, arching my back to rest fully against him.

"No talking," Damon demanded harshly, "You are being very naughty."

A rush of wetness collected between my thighs at his words. God, there was no way this was going to be a short shower. The things this man could do to me were downright obscene.

Damon cupped my breasts in his masculine hands, gently stroking my nipple with his thumb. Sporadically, he would lightly pinch a nipple, making me squirm. Warm fire spread through my body as he continued to massage each perky mound of flesh. The intensity made me claw at my neck, one hand pulling at my own hair.

Damon pushed me into the shower and turned on the water. Unrelenting jets of ice cold water rained down on my unprepared body.

"Damon!" I shrieked in outrage and discomfort.

Damon smirked, entirely focused on my naked body. I must have made quite the erotic picture. I was completely soaked. Water dripped from my most intimate parts. The sudden burst of cold had made my nipples impossibly harden further – tiny pink pebbles jutting away from my tanned breasts. Damon clearly enjoyed what he saw.

The water began to heat up and I moaned lowly. If my body had not been so sexually wired, I would have been content to luxuriate beneath the soothing, warm water for hours.

"Wash your hair," Damon ordered.

Damon closed the shower door. The glass barrier between the shower and the bathroom was entirely transparent. He had a perfect view of everything.

"You're not getting in?" I pouted, "You promised to scrub!"

"I don't remember giving you permission to talk," Damon warned, "Just pretend like I'm not here."

"Because that'll be easy," I muttered mutinously.

All the same, I obediently poured a sizable dollop of shampoo into my hand and began to lather it into my hair. I was kind of at a loss as to the whole point of this. Washing my hair was not particularly erotic.

My entire position on the subject changed when I glanced over at Damon. He was slowly fisting his cock, eyes intently focused on my every motion. I blushed furiously. Scratch everything I thought before, shampoo is ridiculously hot. The smell of Pantene would probably make me horny for the rest of my life.

Watching Damon stroke his cock out of the corner of my eye had me remembering our session of phone sex. At the time, I could only imagine how ridiculously sexy he must have looked pleasuring himself. Now faced with the actual visual, I realized I needed to reevaluate my previous notions of ridiculously sexy because he blew them out of the water.

I tilted my head beneath the stream of water in order to wash out the shampoo. I laid my hand against my feverish face and let it drift down the expanse of my neck. I was burning up under Damon's lustful scrutiny.

We repeated the same pattern as I conditioned my hair. I was entranced by watching his face contort with each pump of his cock. It was hard to pay attention to the faces Damon made during sex when he was inside of me because I was usually caught up in the maelstrom of pleasure he could bring me. Now, I had the presence of mind to be able to enjoy every single expression of satisfaction that crossed his face.

When my hair was completely washed, Damon opened the door and stepped into the shower to join me. I felt like a cheaply made toy that had been wound up to the point of breaking. I needed some goddamn satisfaction out of this. Of course, Damon had never really left me hanging before, but there was always the possibility that he would play dirty. I could guarantee this would not be the day he left me high and dry.

"Please," I whispered quietly, jutting out my lower lip.

Damon nibbled on my pouting lower lip before pulling me against his body for a full on assault of my mouth. He sucked on my lower lip, and I responded by sweeping my tongue against his mouth. We simultaneously opened our mouths to each other. Damon thrust his tongue into my mouth and massaged it against mine. My excitement escalated with every delicious sweep of his tongue. He tilted my head to fully dominate my mouth, controlling the pace of our kiss. After a few minutes, he pulled back, licking my lips as he went.

"You taste so good," he murmured so quietly that I was not sure whether or not he meant for me to hear him.

Wasting no more time, Damon spun me around so that my chest was pressed against the glass shower door. I shivered at the feeling of the cold glass planes pressing against my sensitive nipples. Damon spread my legs and nudged against my opening with the head of his cock. My eyes fluttered closed in anticipation.

To my surprise, I felt a sudden intrusion from his fingers, his cock remaining pressed against me but not inside of me. The slightly scratchy feeling of a loofa rubbing across my back alerted me that Damon was scrubbing me with body wash.

"A promise is a promise," Damon said, face pressed against my hair.

His fingers dipped teasingly in and out of my body, never quite setting a rhythm that would satisfy me. I knew this was payback for me teasing him earlier. Somehow I did not think my thirty seconds of playful teasing deserved a full on session of torture in retaliation! Every time I would near the precipice of release, Damon would set a new rhythm with his fingers that made my orgasm completely disappear from the horizon. It was awfully irritating.

My torture continued until Damon had completely scrubbed down my body, reaching around me to make sure my front was also washed.

Finished, Damon commented, "You are so wet, baby, and it is not from the shower. You want to cum so bad don't you?"

"Mmhmm," I garbled incoherently.

Damon slid a hand around to the front of my body and stroked a lazy circle around my clit. I was reaching infuriating levels of arousal. I needed him. It was as simple as that.

"Do you want to cum on my fingers, Elena?" Damon asked.

I was willing to cum just about anywhere at this point. However, I truly did not want to orgasm from him fingering me, so I shook my head no.

"Judging from those sexy little moans you definitely want to cum," Damon mused, "Is it my cock? Do you want to cum all over my thick cock?"

"Yes."

"It's hard just for you, Elena, you know that? Tell me what you want," Damon demanded.

"I want you to…I need you to…," I was completely losing control and had lost any semblance of coherency, I needed him so badly. "Please, Damon, fuck me with your…your…cock!"

Without any hesitation, Damon plunged into my core, pressing me hard into the glass. The pace he set was absolute perfection. Every thrust was hard enough that I would groan but never enough to actually cause pain. Especially after him fingering me earlier with no discernible pattern, having him consistently fuck me felt amazing.

I threw an arm behind me to clutch at his shoulder. My nails dug into his skin, making him hiss into my ear with pleasure. His lips descended to my neck, biting at the tender skin with blunt teeth. I wondered what it would feel like if he just bit me in that moment. Would the pain be unbearable or would my entire world shatter at the overwhelming overload of sensations?

His fingers found my clit once again and this time there was no teasing. Damon was relentless, gently rubbing against the little bundle of nerves until I was screaming. I was far too sensitive. Every movement was agony followed by the most exquisite burst of ecstasy that I had ever experienced.

When I finally catapulted into my orgasm, I thrashed wildly against the glass, moaning Damon's name uncontrollably. Damon boxed me in, pressing his arms against the glass on either side of my head to keep me steady. I felt his cock jerk and then he spilled himself inside of me. He collapsed against the glass, his weight heavy against my body.

"You are such a liar," I grumbled.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Damon panted, still feeling the after-effects of his orgasm.

"That took way too much time! Now, I will have to go to school with wet hair!" I complained.

Damon turned off the water before stepping out of the shower to grab a towel. Methodically, he removed all of the water from my body. The soothing circles he rubbed into my skin made me clothes my eyes. He was lulling me to sleep. I opened my eyes as he wrapped me in a large fluffy robe. Next, he gently towel-dried my hair so that it would be at least partially presentable by the time I arrived at school.

He was being almost unbearably sweet. It made me want to grin like an idiot and write silly little poems in my diary. I bit my lip, aware that my eyes were probably shining with adoration. Probably a reflection of his own eyes. The tenderness in Damon's gaze as he finished drying me off was beautiful. He placed a soft kiss against my forehead that made me want to cry.

I had no idea why I was reacting so strongly to such a simple gesture. Actually, I had no idea where any of these mushy feelings were coming from. It was hard not to respond to such meticulous consideration. It was nice to be taken care of by someone else. I wondered how often someone took care of Damon and decided I would have to do something nice for him later in return.

"Are you still coming over during your lunch break?" Damon asked.

"Yep," I replied, pulling out of his arms to leave the bathroom.

As I walked away, I got a look in the mirror at the rats' nest that was my hair after being towel-dried.

"Oh my God! Damon!"

* * *

I had a fantastic morning at school. Matt stopped to talk to me in the hallway, publically cementing our new truce. I heard whispers about us making up all morning. It was big news. My classes went by without incident. I realized that my newfound relaxation allowed me to better focus in class.

The period before lunch brought my perfect day screeching to a grinding halt. I shared Physics class with Bonnie and Caroline. Their combined stares followed me as I sat down to Bonnie's left.

Hoping to avoid a confrontation, I dug around in my purse pretending to look for a pencil. It was pointless to even try.

"What happened to you?" Caroline demanded, leaning forward to glare at me with a mixture of concern and annoyance.

"You're mad," I winced. I had expected this.

"I'm withholding judgment," Caroline announced, "It all depends on where you went last night."

"Matt told us you stayed for less than an hour. We were so worried," Bonnie admitted.

I looked away from Bonnie's sympathetic, brown eyes. They made me feel guilty.

"You spoke to Matt," I said to Caroline, "That must have been exciting."

"Don't deflect," Bonnie scolded, "You abandoned us at your house and spent the night god-knows-where."

"You hiding it from me just makes me want to know more," Caroline said, narrowing her eyes.

The truth was not an option here. I would have to lie. The more the lie played on their sympathies, the more distracted Caroline and Bonnie would be from the truth. I was truly heading down the path of the devil.

"I went to see my parents at the cemetery."

"You went to the cemetery in the middle of the night," Bonnie restated skeptically.

"You slept in a cemetery?" Caroline gasped in disgust.

"No!" I defended myself, "I went to the cemetery but I spent the night at John's apartment."

John had moved out of our house, thankfully, because Jenna had started threatening violence. His apartment was a few miles outside of Mystic Falls near the highway. Occasionally – and by occasionally I mean rarely – John and I would have lunch in town. He was a great cover because he was directly related to my family drama and the likelihood that Bonnie or Caroline would contact him was nonexistent.

"I just had a depressed moment," I lied quietly.

"Oh, sweetie, want to talk about it?" Bonnie worried, compassionately.

I was a dishonest person who would ditch her amazing friends to hook up with a guy. I did not deserve her sympathy.

"We are never letting you out of our sights during a sleepover again," Caroline declared, "You have a mental breakdown when we do."

I gave a strained smile. Even Caroline was being perfectly understanding. The devil must be cackling with glee because I was truly damned.

"Elena, report to Mr. Saltzman's room, please," Mrs. Henry my physics teacher ordered.

Bonnie nudged me, "What's going on there?"

I shrugged. I – honestly this time – did not know what Ric wanted to talk about.

As I stood up to go see Ric, Bonnie grabbed my arm. "If you need anything, you call."

Caroline nodded in agreement, their faces matching expressions of concern.

I ran out of there as fast as I could. Their good intentions were going to drive me crazy.

"Thanks for stopping by," Ric greeted when I walked into his empty classroom.

"It's good to see you," I said sincerely.

With the change in my schedule with the new semester, Ric was no longer my teacher. Between that and his fallout with Jenna, I never saw him anymore.

"Want to take a seat?"

I sat down in one of the student desks facing where he was seated. The position reminded me that Alaric was in a position of power over me. Extraneous circumstances made him treat me like an equal, but he was ultimately my teacher.

"I just wanted to check in with you, make sure you're still handling everything okay," Alaric explained.

"I've been fine."

Alaric sighed, "You underwent an ordeal, Elena. You saw things that no one deserves to see let alone a high school student. The death, the fear for your life and the lives of your friends, all of that has to still bother you."

"Everything going back to normal was…an adjustment, but I adjusted," I said.

"Did you catch up on everything with school? You missed a lot of days for a while there."

Tell me about it. Raising my grades back to where they had been at the start of the year had been a nightmare.

"I have it under control," I answered.

"What about boys?" He asked.

"Boys?"

"I don't want you to never move on from Stefan," Alaric explained, "He would want you to move on and live your life."

Everyone was driving me crazy. It was one thing to withhold the truth, but all of the people in my life were forcing me to outright lie. I could not explain to Alaric that I was getting plenty and there was no need to worry. Equally impossible to explain was that Stefan would actually not appreciate that I had moved on into the bed of his brother. Sometimes the truth is unnecessary.

"I'm just not ready for another relationship," I answered after a long pause.

"Being alone will get old fast," Alaric warned.

"Everything with Stefan was…intense. It was too much between all of the I'll-love-you-forever's, the I-would-die-for-you's, and the general terror. I'm fried. I guess I'm just disenchanted with the whole epic love thing. Too much hurt for not enough payoff," I rambled, expressing some of the thoughts that had been haunting me for months.

Alaric nodded, "Understandable. No one will blame you for avoiding something serious for a little while longer. Just remember, you can have a casual dating thing. Okay? Don't shun men forever."

"I think I can manage that," I reassured him with a smile, "My lunch is starting, so if you don't mind…"

"No, go right ahead. I will talk to you again soon," Alaric smiled.

I grabbed my books and made to walk out the door when Alaric gave an oddly loud and obviously forced cough. I spun around to look at him. His face was red and he was shuffling the papers on his desk around nervously.

"One more thing, Elena, I was wondering if maybe I could stop by your house sometime. Maybe when…Jenna was home. I would be happy to make dinner. I know that the Gilberts aren't known for their way around the kitchen," Alaric stammered.

I swallowed nervously, "I'm not sure Jenna would like that, Ric."

"I know that she is uncomfortable around me, but the only way to fix that is if she'll actually talk to me," Alaric said.

"I don't know if she actually wants to fix anything. She is seeing someone," I told him sadly.

Alaric looked startled by this information. "Who?"

"I don't know that much about him. His name's Travis," I supplied.

"Well what does he do? What does he look like?" Alaric questioned desperately, "How does he dress? What's he like?"

"Well," I stammered, "He's kind of older. I don't know how old but he has gray hair. He's not unattractive though. I don't really know how he dresses because the only time I met him he was naked."

"He was naked," Alaric repeated.

"Yeah, I didn't stay around long enough to learn what he did for a living or anything else," I explained.

I probably should have kept the details of how I met Travis a secret. Alaric was sputtering trying to come to terms with what I was telling him.

"Not to turn everything back on you, but you might want to think about moving on too, Ric," I told him sympathetically.

Alaric looked absolutely shocked but managed to regain his composure after a few moments. I smiled at him sorrowfully, feeling guilty for being the bearer of bad news before leaving. As sorry as I was for Ric, I had no time to comfort him. Damon was expecting me.

* * *

I walked into the Boarding House expecting Damon to be eagerly waiting for me. I would not have been surprised had he knocked me over before I got both feet through the door. Instead, I was greeted by an empty doorway.

"Are you home?" I called nervously.

"Kitchen," I heard Damon's voice drift from the direction of the kitchen.

"Oh my God," I moaned as I reached the archway that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house.

God, could that man cook! From the heavenly scent wafting from the oven, I could tell that Damon had produced a five star meal. I was never eating lunch in my school's subpar cafeteria again.

"Do you see something you like?" Damon teased, referring to the fact that I had started to drool.

"No, but I smell something I like. What are you making?" I asked in awe.

The timer beeped, and Damon pulled the food out of the oven. He did not bother with an oven mitt, reaching his hand into the 350 degree oven. I winced seeing the blisters on his hands, but Damon did not have a reaction. Within seconds, his wounds had disappeared, leaving smooth, unblemished skin behind.

"Basil chicken and pasta carbonara," Damon announced grandly.

"When you said you'd cook for me, I thought you meant a sandwich," I commented, moving to sit at the table.

"I get bored," Damon shrugged, serving me a plate of the delectable meal, "Red wine?"

"I don't think the school would appreciate you sending me back buzzed," I demurred.

"Then don't go back."

"Not an option," I said shortly.

"Elena, this is a 1961 Brunello di Montalcino. Drink it," Damon ordered authoritatively.

I pouted slightly but consented, accepting the wine glass as he handed it to me. The food was as delicious as I had imagined it would be. The chicken was mouth-wateringly seasoned and cooked to perfection. I begrudgingly had to admit to myself that the wine perfectly complemented the pasta as well.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked after a few minutes of him watching me inhale pasta.

Wordlessly, he stole a bite of chicken, eating it off of my fork. I almost complained about germs but realized that was ridiculous. We willingly swapped spit all of the time. No use in worrying about hygiene now.

"You're being really quiet," I said.

"I'm hungry."

I motioned towards my pasta, "Then eat."

"Really, Elena?" Damon demanded, scoffing at my offer of food.

"Really what…"I trailed off realizing what he was talking about, "Can you drink from a blood bag?"

Damon shook his head, "I'm out. I need to make a trip to the blood bank. Don't worry about it. It's just making me cranky. You are far too tempting right now."

I blushed slightly at the hungry look he directed at me.

"And that's not helping," he huffed.

"Why would you want to bite me?" I questioned.

Damon stared at me, "Are you serious?"

"I gave Stefan some of my blood but he never actually bit me because he liked me. He cares about me too much to do that. I thought you liked me too," I explained.

"I like you very much," Damon assured me, "That just makes me want to bite you even more."

"So you want to hurt me because you like me," I parroted confused.

"I never said I wanted to hurt you. Yes, there would be some pain, but unless I tear your throat out, there is no need for you to not enjoy it."

I looked at him skeptically, "People actually enjoy you ripping into their throats with razor sharp teeth, breaking their skin, and sucking out their blood?"

"Under the right circumstance and if I wanted her to, then, yes," Damon shrugged.

"Her? Why not him?"

"The necessary circumstances are usually erotic. Men aren't my cup of tea in those situations."

"So it is a sex thing," I summarized.

"It is not for everyone, but adventurous people in bed enjoy it. Some start to crave it more than the sex itself," Damon said.

I briefly wondered if he was playing me. The adventurous comment was manipulative. I wanted to be a woman eager to experiment. That added with my now engaged curiosity was making me actually consider the idea of him drinking my blood.

"What if people saw the marks?" I worried, sipping the remnants of my wine.

"If you don't want to pretend it's a hickey, there are less conspicuous places I can bite you," Damon answered.

It was not lost on me that we were now talking directly about me.

"I need more wine," I muttered.

Damon obliged with a smirk, refilling my glass.

"So are we doing this?" Damon asked with a look on his face that indicated he thought this was too good to be true.

"Not now!" I protested, "I need time to prepare myself mentally and…just think about it first."

Damon pouted slightly but agreed with a terse, "Fine."

"Thank you for being understanding," I smiled, leaning forward to peck him on the lips.

I returned to my seated position and played around with the food on my plate. I looked up to notice Damon staring at me.

"What?"

"Are you finished?" Damon demanded, motioning to my food.

"I guess so," I agreed.

Damon grinned lecherously. He removed my plate and glass from the table, leaving the surface empty.

"Lay down on the table," Damon ordered.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm not a barbarian, Elena," Damon said lewdly, "I always eat my meals on the table."

I hopped up on the table without a moment's delay. Instead of lying down, I sat up straight. I opened my arms and beckoned for Damon to stand between my opened legs. I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him in for a kiss.

Our lips molded together gently, and his tongue darted out to tease my lips. I buried my fingers in his short hair and pulled at the silk soft strands. I had a brief, asinine thought that I should ask him how often he conditions. With busy hands, Damon removed my shirt, exposing my flesh to his wandering eye.

I pushed Damon backwards to give me room. He gave me a startled look but I ignored him. Sliding off the table, I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled off my pants and underwear quickly. Damon smirked in understanding before helping reposition me on the table.

Instead of returning to my lips, Damon kissed down my neck. Each brush of his lips against my skin made me pant in pleasure. He was working me up with next to no effort. With both hands, he pushed together my bra-covered breasts. Damon's mouth made love with wild abandon to the cleavage he had produced. He licked and sucked until he managed to form a small hickey on the top of my breasts. My eyes rolled backwards at the pleasurable agony.

Damon knelt down in front of the table so that he was directly parallel with my pussy. He gave my left thigh a little nibble, making me giggle. My laughter quickly turned to moans when he ran his tongue teasingly against my thigh. Sighing, I let myself fall backwards so that I was resting against the table.

Damon started off slow, lightly licking from my entrance to my clitoris. My hips bucked upwards when he reached my clit, but he merely placed a hand against my stomach to hold me in place. He placed kisses across my labia before sucking an entire lip into his mouth. The gentle massaging had me squirming in pleasure. Generously, he gave the other side the same treatment switching between both lips for what felt like an eternity.

With a firm tongue, Damon returned to my clit, kissing it gently. Quickly, Damon enveloped my clitoris in his mouth, sucking briefly, before releasing it. I panted, surprised at the abruptness of his assault. He waited for a moment before doing it again.

To my relief, he next latched onto my clit in earnest. He sucked on it lightly while gently flicking his tongue back and forth across the sensitive nub. I was growing wild beneath him. One hand scratched at the wooden surface of the tabletop while my other hand ferociously gripped his hair. I was using all of my strength to keep his head exactly where I wanted it.

His tongue became more aggressive, licking against my clit with increased speed. The added friction had me striving for my release. Feeling it build, I ground my hips against his face. Both of my hands were now deeply embedded in his hair, pressing him to me. He gave one, two, three more sucks and then I came. My body practically convulsed under the strain of my powerful orgasm and tears formed in my eyes.

Damon made sure to gently continue his work on my clit until my orgasm had entirely finished. I yanked at his hair, indicating that I had become far too sensitive. Damon's mouth, when he looked up, was dripping, covered in my fluids.

"That was incredibly hot," Damon commented.

I had no words so I just remained in the same position lying on the kitchen table. My entire body felt like jelly and my brain was processing at about the same rate as a mayfly.

"I really shouldn't have given you the wine," Damon sighed, "Now you're going back to school drunk and sated. How will you learn anything?"

"I managed before," I said weakly.

"True. I really do an amazing job of satisfying you, don't I?" Damon bragged cockily.

"You're not bad at it," I understated, managing a small chuckle.

"Put your clothes on. You are already going to be late for school," Damon said.

"What?" I immediately shot up and started to pull on my discarded items of clothing.

"You've been here for almost an hour now. That's longer than most school lunch periods, right?"

I huffed, "Yes, Damon, about twenty minutes too long!"

"Don't worry about it. I can send you back with a note excusing you from class," Damon said.

"How can you do that?" I wondered.

"I'm sure the secretaries will understand. You just needed a little one-on-one class time with Professor Damon," he smirked.


	9. Chapter 9

Damon's POV

"Explain to me again why for the fourth day in a row I can't see you," I groaned into the phone.

"Because I'm not only helping with the charity festival, I am co-chair. It is a lot of work. There are booths to set up, prizes to buy, and I can't even begin to list it all. Sexy time will have to wait," Elena chattered into the phone distractedly.

Sexy time?

"One should always make time for me. I could melt all that irritating tension right away," I needled.

"You can't tempt me," Elena snapped, "I'm so busy I don't even have time to think. I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. I'm supposed to be blowing up balloons."

"I can think of better things for you to blow," I said lewdly.

Elena huffed into the phone, "Now you're just being crass."

"Fine. This festival better be a success with all the time you're putting into it," I said.

"I hope so. All profits are going to the Honor Society which is donating the money to the Food Pantry and local shelter for abused women. Raising some money would really help," Elena said, passion seeping into her voice.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, I hope they give you your Good Samaritan Girl Scout badge."

"I haven't been a Girl Scout in years."

"Still have the uniform? I can think of a few ways we could put it to good use," I teased.

"It's how many sizes too small now," Elena pointed out.

"Exactly."

"I'm hanging up now," Elena said in an exasperated voice.

"Bye," I said, hanging up the phone.

This had to be the most involved town in the entire fucking universe. I had lived a lot of places over the years and nowhere else did they feel the need to plan a new carnival or pageant or fundraiser every goddamned week. Of course, I had to fall for Miss Student Council! When I had first come to town, I had no idea she would someday become so involved. As she recovered from her parents' deaths, however, she was throwing herself into extra-curriculars. It would not be so irritating if it were not for the fact that I wanted all of her free time to myself. If I had my way, she would not even go to school.

I rifled through a few books that I had pulled from the library shelves. While Klaus was not currently a threat, I was still doing as much research on originals as possible in case he ever did pop up. The Gilbert journals had been incredibly helpful in teaching me the basics of originals and some vampire history. I was genuinely curious about Jonathan Gilbert and how he came to know so much about vampirism. I had been around for almost two centuries and could barely touch on his amount of knowledge. Maybe I just hadn't been looking for it.

After I had exhausted the Gilbert journals, I had realized that my primary lead was Jonathan Gilbert himself. The journals had stopped abruptly about twenty years after he was turned into a vampire. I wondered if that signaled his permanent death or if he had simply given up on the purposeless hobby of journaling his every thought. Not that I did not appreciate the tips.

Tracing Elena back to Katherine was difficult. It was too much of a coincidence that Elena had been born in Mystic Falls, the same place Katherine had faked her own death in. After all, Katherine claimed to have been separated from her child and lineage during her human years. How did Elena's ancestors travel from Bulgaria to Mystic Falls?

Who was the original Petrova doppelganger? That was the other question that occupied my thoughts. It was so specific that only women from the Petrova bloodline could be used to break the spell. There was a story behind it. Maybe it was irrelevant in protecting Elena or maybe it was the key to everything. Until I was sure, I would follow these little threads in the hopes that if there ever was a threat, I would be prepared to protect her.

The research was extremely boring. Book work was never my chosen pastime but it was better than sitting around the house waiting for Elena to come by. It was not that I was reliant on her but merely that my old habits no longer appealed to me. It was hard to summon up any excitement about seducing some drunken party girl when I could be with Elena instead. Even when Elena was unavailable like now I was not tempted to find a replacement.

It was more than the sex – though the sex was unthinkably good. She was downright funny, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. Elena made the cutest facial expressions, scrunching up her nose and smiling ear to ear. When we talked she listened to everything I had to say, and I actually cared about what she had to say in return. Elena was all around good company to have.

I plopped down on the couch with a book that I had hunted down in an old archive of the Mystic Falls library and a Latin dictionary. The library had not had a translation of the purely Latin text. Of course, I had been educated in Latin during my youth. We may not have been required to learn Latin for church service as the South was not a hotbed of Catholicism during my human years, but it was still suggested that all young men of good standing have a basic understanding in the ancient language. During my studies, I had also received a rudimentary education in French and Italian. Of course, I could hardly be expected to remember all of my Latin from one-hundred fifty years ago, so a dictionary was key.

The translation was slow work, but within an hour, I had managed to read through forty pages of the musty, old volume. The tedious work was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. I placed the book on a counter and walked to the door to greet my guest.

"Good morning," Caroline smiled at me from the other side of the doorway.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods?" I asked, cutting through the pleasantries.

"Damon, you told me to come today almost two weeks ago. We were going to continue my training, remember?" Caroline prompted.

I nodded as the memory came to me, "I forgot, come on in."

A little over two months ago, I had started teaching Caroline some of the what's-what of being a vampire. Technically, I was her sire, and it was my responsibility to make sure she was prepared to face all the big bad dangers of the supernatural world.

I had been pleasantly surprised to realize that she had developed fairly healthy eating habits all on her own. Apparently Stefan had not managed to screw her up irreparably. She had a good tolerance for being around humans and did not lose control of her vampire face when there was a threat or blood around. I was all around fairly impressed.

Our practices had started off as question and answer sessions. Caroline had a lot of questions on the basic anatomy and history of vampires. She seemed embarrassed not to know all of the information on her own, so I figured it was that embarrassment that had kept her from asking Stefan when he was still around. When we had passed that stage, we had moved into training. We went over the best ways to use compulsion, vervain, and different combat scenarios. Caroline was fairly good company. She was an attentive student and knew how to have fun with the lessons. Of course, I would far prefer to teach my favorite student, Elena, any day.

"Want something to drink?" I asked, motioning towards the bar.

Caroline shrugged and settled down to wait for me. Maybe I should be worried that everyone expected me to be drunk all the time. I could be a burgeoning alcoholic and not even realize it.

"Some blood in your bourbon? Bourbon in your blood?" I asked, pouring some hospital blood in a glass.

"I'll drink my blood straight," Caroline said, arching a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

When she glanced away, I poured a tiny vial of liquid into the blood. With a tricky sleight of hand, the empty bottle disappeared into my pocket. It took less than two seconds, and Caroline was blissfully unaware.

"What are we learning today?" Caroline asked, accepting the glass of blood I passed her.

"Your choice," I offered, "Battle tactics or actual combat would be my preferences. You are certainly dressed for combat."

Caroline grinned widely. She was already dressed in capri length spandex, a hoodie, and a sweatband. With every movement, her high ponytail bounced about, tossing blonde hair everywhere. It was completely unnecessary but at least she had not opted for a pair of heels or something equally ridiculous.

"I think combat would be good. I don't plan on leading the charge anytime soon, so the strategies can wait," Caroline answered after a moment of thinking over her answer.

"Sounds good," I said, focusing on Caroline raising her glass to her lips to take her first sip.

Before it had time to register in my mind, Caroline pulled the glass away from her mouth and threw its contents in my face. I fell to my knees, clutching my mutilated flesh. My skin felt like it was on fire and someone was pouring acid in every burn. The worst part was the liquid that had gotten into my unprotected eyes. I was effectively blind as it scorched my eyeballs.

"Thought you'd get me with the vervain, didn't ya?" Caroline said triumphantly.

Without the use of my vision, I was able to locate Caroline in the room standing about five feet away from me. She should not have spoken; it gave me a more accurate reading of where she was in the room. Once the pain bottomed out to a merely stinging agony, I lunged. I made contact with Caroline's knees, knocking her backwards onto the coffee table she was standing in front of. It broke into pieces at the impact.

"How'd you do that?" Caroline yelped, taken by surprise as she had assumed I was helpless until my retinas healed.

Keeping her pinned beneath my weight, I answered, "As you know, all of the senses of a vampire are heightened, particularly hearing. When you spoke, I was able to determine exactly where you were standing."

"So if I had stayed quiet, I would have maintained the advantage?" Caroline questioned.

"Not necessarily. I can smell you. All of the girly products you use give you away," I said.

"Then blinding you was completely pointless," Caroline stated in a disappointed voice, "I was really looking forward to winning for once."

I lifted myself off of her and rubbed my sore eyes. My vision had returned though it was still blurrier than I was used to. Flashes of discolored lights similar to the modesty bars used on MTV danced across my vision making it difficult for me to remain focused.

"Keep moving, would be my advice to you if you ever decide to blind your opponent. Only if he is a vampire, of course," I instructed, "If you are speeding through the room, I won't be able to track your scent as easily and hopefully I'll be too disoriented to hear where you are at any given moment."

I could practically see Caroline filing away this information for later use. She was extremely determined to learn as much as she possibly could as quickly as she could. It reminded me somewhat of a phase I went through before the turn of the twentieth century. It had taken nearly thirty years for me to possess the motivation necessary to commit so fully to learning how to defend myself. Caroline was prepared in less than a year.

"Admit it, you're impressed. I used my resources and outwitted you," Caroline said.

"I don't know if you outwitted me per say, but you did good," I grudgingly praised her.

Caroline beamed, "I try."

"What tipped you off to the vervain?" I quizzed, curious as to how she had found me out.

"Well, for starters, you actually asked me what I wanted to do today. You're way too bossy for that normally. Also, the drink just smelled a little off," Caroline explained.

"Vervain is scentless," I corrected.

Caroline nodded, "I remember you telling me that. It's not so much that I smelled the vervain as the alcohol was just less…pungent. I followed my instincts and voila!"

"That was observant," I admitted, "You are already in tune with some of the senses more experienced vampires are only starting to develop. Do you think you'd have noticed the vervain if you weren't aware something was off?"

Caroline's brow furrowed in thought, "I'm not sure."

"So you want to work on your combat?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Bring it, Salvatore," Caroline smirked.

* * *

I arrived at the festival about fifteen minutes after it had started. I was hoping that things would be running smoothly, and I would be able to steal Elena away for a bit. If not, there were lots of people around to entertain me, and it beat sitting around at home.

I walked idly through the already gathering crowds, searching for some entertainment. Everywhere there were raffles, game booths, and competitions. To my complete horror, a couple of women in their fifties were singing karaoke at one booth. It was one thing to be a little sharp; it was an entirely different thing to be singing the complete wrong note. The women were completely off pitch. Even more terrifying, they were gyrating their hips to the music.

Seeing me, one of them turned to serenade me. This woman was a piece of work. She was by no means overweight but she was no longer the stick she had probably been in her youth. The stick she still believed she was judging by the tight way her clothes were cut. I knew this type. She was one of the women who stopped pretending to even bother with their husbands after the kids left the house and now every night was on the prowl for a new man. Judging by the sex eyes she was giving me, she thought I could be that man.

Rolling my eyes at the embarrassing display, I sped up to put as much distance between myself and the desperate woman as possible. I closed my eyes and breathed in the varying aromas. I loved when so many people were around. It was overwhelming to all of my senses, and I reveled in the chaos it created in my brain.

A screeching voice caught my attention and made me stop.

A pretty brown-haired girl shouted, "What do you mean you have a cold sore? You are supposed to work the kissing booth! I can't let you anywhere near some poor girl's mouth with that thing on it!"

"Dana, I'm sorry. It's not my fault," the boy who was being yelled at protested.

"A kissing booth is a hard thing to organize, Pete," the girl named Dana lectured, "There are few people hot enough for large numbers of women to actually pay to make out with. You were one of the only guys we could come up with who could actually make a profit. Elena's going to be so pissed."

A million scenarios began to play through my head. What a golden opportunity to swoop in and play the hero. Volunteering my services would kill two birds with one stone. I could help Elena, proving to her that I took the things she considered important seriously and I could have some fun with the excitable ladies of Mystic Falls.

Making my decision, I walked towards Dana. Maybe she would want a kiss. That would not be too bad. She was a hot little thing.

"I couldn't help overhearing," I interrupted, "You need someone to man the kissing booth."

The look on Dana's face as she studied me did wonders for my ego. She looked absolutely shell-shocked. Immediately, she pushed out her breasts and started running a hand through her hair. I must be notorious, I mused.

"Yeah, the guy who was supposed to do it had to cancel," Dana said, giving me flirty eyes.

"I happen to be an exceptional kisser," I told her conspiratorially, leaning forward as if revealing a secret.

"I believe you," Dana agreed breathily with wide eyes.

"Since this is all for such a good cause, I would be happy to take over for you," I smirked.

Dana bit her lip apprehensively, "I'm not sure, Damon, you are a little old. I don't want to get in trouble."

"You know my name?"

Dana blushed furiously, "Everyone kind of knows who you are."

"Then everyone will be more than happy to pay to know me more intimately, won't they?" I reasoned.

Dana's lips parted and she nodded her head enthusiastically, "Just stand at that booth, and you can start whenever you are ready."

"You should stop by once I open up shop," I said seductively, eyeing the artery in her neck as I spoke.

Dana nodded her head and went to walk away, casting longing looks in my direction as she left. Definitely an option for some straight from the source blood later.

I situated myself behind the kissing booth and surveyed my area. There was a cash box that I expected to be overflowing with money by the end of the evening. A brightly painted sign hung on the front of the booth announcing "A Kiss You Can't Miss for One Dollar."

Less than a minute went by before Carol Lockwood stalked towards me. She was not technically involved with the carnival so she was dressed down in khaki pants and a cardigan. I had never seen her in casual wear now that I thought about it. Something in the way she was pursing her lips made me realize she was not interested in a kiss.

"Evening, Carol," I said, smiling charmingly.

"Hello, Damon, are you enjoying yourself?" Carol asked.

"Yes, the kids did a good job," I answered politely.

Carol gave me a small smile, "I was wondering, what are you doing behind the kissing booth? Where is Peter?"

"The boy they had lined up had to drop out at the last moment. I was in the vicinity, and I thought I could lend my lips to the cause for one evening," I replied smoothly.

"I know this is not an exclusively high school carnival, but there are young people here," Carol protested, "Aren't you a little old? Who okay'd this?"

"One of the girls helping out," I said.

"Well, I think we should find someone in charge to help us decide if this is appropriate," Carol said nervously, "This is a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"Whatever you say, Carol," I agreed.

"Elena, dear, can you help us sort out a little problem?" Carol called

I turned to see Elena walking towards us with a horrified expression on her face. Her eyes were gigantic and if she did not close her mouth she was bound to catch flies.

"Elena," Carol said, "I'm not sure it's appropriate for Damon to head the kissing booth. There are underage girls here."

"I couldn't agree more," Elena hissed with a look that made it clear that I was in big trouble.

And here I was just trying to be chivalrous and help her with her precious festival.

I addressed Carol, "Isn't it just as wrong to make a kid kiss all of these adult women? Children are too young to prostitute themselves for a dollar a kiss."

"I did not okay this, Damon," Elena snapped, "I'm sorry, Carol, I will find a replacement immediately."

"No tongue for minors, I promise. This is for charity, Carol," I pressed.

"Keep it short with the under eighteens," Carol caved.

"You can't be serious," Elena gasped.

"I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be helping with Bingo. Excuse me," Carol said, walking away.

I chuckled lowly. Elena was completely flabbergasted. Heaven forbid I ruin her dear charity event with the power of my lips. I was going to get it so bad from her.

"What the Hell are you doing?" Elena glared menacingly at me.

"Scoping out the women of Mystic Falls," I replied chipperly.

"Why would you be doing that?"

"Ooh! I have a customer," I said, turning my back on her.

An average looking woman in her thirties walked towards me.

"Are you open?" she asked, placing a dollar bill on the table.

I grinned and narrowed my eyes seductively. The woman flushed pink under my gaze.

"Absolutely," I purred, selling myself to her with the promise of charm and sex.

Leaning forward, I captured her lips in mine. I licked teasingly and used all of my considerable skill to rock this woman's world. I kept my eyes open so that I could watch her swoon in pleasure. Her eyelids fluttered heavily and she gave a little mewl as we kissed.

I pulled away after a few moments. The woman's chest was actually heaving. She seemed confused about why I had pulled away.

"Tell all your friends to come spend their money here," I suggested teasingly.

The woman stumbled away, and I was confident that I would be overwhelmed by women within minutes.

"Tell me who asked you to man the kissing booth," Elena demanded fiercely.

"Dana, some cute little thing in a cheerleading uniform," I told her.

Elena pursed her lips and marched away. No doubt she was off to find Dana and rip her to shreds. I really had no idea what Elena was so upset about. She was probably just pissy because she hadn't been getting any for a couple of days now. The thought made me smile. I would be more than happy to help fix that problem later tonight.

* * *

An hour later, the line to the kissing booth stretched hundreds of feet back. The first customer had stuck to her promise to tell all of her friends. I could not help but grin to myself. I had gotten so many numbers from beautiful women that I would not have to drink from a blood bag for months.

Facing the next woman in line, I recognized the woman from the karaoke fiasco earlier. I groaned internally before smiling seductively. The things I did for a good cause.

"I'm Mary," the woman introduced herself, holding out a hand for me to shake.

I shook my head, "Ah, ah, ah, here we don't say hello with a handshake. We say hello with a kiss. Put some money on the table and we can get started."

With an enormous smile, Mary dumped a huge wad of cash on the table, "I have $87 with me and I'm spending it all on you, baby. If I had known about this, I would have brought more!"

"There's a line, darling, so I can't give you eighty-seven kisses in a row," I informed her.

She gave an overdramatic wail, "But I'm paying for it!"

"Let's make a deal. I'll give you five kisses, and then, you have to let five people in line go. Then, it's your turn again. Deal?" I negotiated.

"Pucker up!" she agreed happily.

Without further ado, Mary planted a smacking kiss on me. She was rather aggressive, thrusting her tongue into my mouth. That tongue was more slippery than a fish. No matter how tightly I tried to keep my lips pressed together, she managed to squeeze her tongue inside my mouth. I cut the kiss short at twenty seconds. There was no way in hell that I was making out with her for a full eighty-seven minutes.

It was a huge relief when I finished the first session of my kisses with Mary. The girl in line behind her was actually quite pretty and I was looking forward to cleansing my mouth of the repugnant woman's taste.

I turned around to see Elena coming towards me. I prayed she was not going to start screaming at me again. It was fairly unpleasant.

"Hey, Damon," Elena greeted in a sickeningly sweet voice that immediately had my guard up. She sounded way too happy for my own good.

"I know you're running this carnival, but I can't let you cut to the front of the line," I smirked, "No showing favorites."

I accepted the money from my next customer and leaned in to give her a kiss. I found myself enjoying it less than I would have imagined with Elena standing beside me. It was difficult to appreciate the kiss of another woman when I knew just how much I enjoyed the feeling of Elena pressing against me while we kissed lustily.

Elena was grimacing when I pulled back. A curious idea hit me, could she be jealous? It was completely irrational since Elena had made it very clear that emotions had no place in our relationship. All the same, Elena had vehemently objected to me running the kissing booth and looked incensed every time I kissed another woman. I grinned at the very idea. This was too fun!

"I don't want to cut the line," Elena said picking our conversation back up, "I'm here to help you work it."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a sinking suspicion that I would not like her answer.

Elena shrugged her shoulders casually, "Boys have money, too. I take the men you get the women."

She had to be fucking kidding! I was not going to let her kiss every perverted, pimply boy with a dollar in his pocket. I would end up committing mass homicide before we were ten minutes in.

"No way, Elena," I said firmly, "I'm making enough money for the two of us."

"You won't if you don't actually pay attention to the customers, Damon," Elena rebuked, "Now shoo, I already have a customer."

I leaned forward and kissed the woman in front of me, but Elena had my entire attention. The guy approaching wasn't even disgustingly unattractive. No, he was a football player, judging by his jersey. Good hair, muscles, and a lack of disfigurements made him far too good looking to even think about Elena.

"Hey, Joey," Elena smiled widely, "How are you doing?"

"Great, Elena," the kid said suggestively, "Am I your first customer?"

"Very first," Elena agreed.

"Excellent."

I gripped the edge of the booth tightly, imprints of my fingers becoming embedded in the wood. Elena cupped Joey's face gently and pressed their lips together. It was the most nauseating thing I had ever seen. From the parts of Elena's expression I could see – the parts that were not being slobbered on by fucking Joey – she looked downright smug.

Annoyed, I grabbed my next customer somewhat harshly by the neck and pulled her in for a steamy kiss. Within seconds, I had the woman moaning loudly in my mouth. She was practically climbing on top of the booth to get closer to me.

I glanced up to see Elena scowling angrily at me. Joey was long forgotten and beginning to walk away. I smirked in triumph. I had managed not to kill the little shithead and had put Elena in her place.

My self congratulations lasted less than a minute before two men made their way towards her. They were not high school students. These were two adults who thought it was appropriate to try to feel up a high school girl. _My high school girl_.

"Hey, baby," one of them said, taking the lead, "Got a kiss for me?"

Elena gave me a pointed look, "Absolutely."

This time, she gripped the man by the front of his shirt and pressed her entire upper body against him. She opened her mouth letting his tongue plunder every crevice of her mouth. Elena gave a lusty little moan that I could immediately tell was fake, but the freak kissing her couldn't.

"Damn, you're really hot for it aren't you baby," he said lewdly, "If you like, sweetheart, I can take you out back in the woods, slam you up against a tree, and…"

The dick never finished his sentence before my fist connected with his sleazy face. I barely managed to restrain myself from using my full strength at the last second. Somehow I managed to remember that it would be scarring for Elena to watch me pummel a man to death in front of her.

"Damon!" Elena screamed in shock.

The man was lying on the ground gushing blood and complaining about a broken nose. His friend seemed torn between helping him and picking a fight with me. A menacing glance in his decision helped him to properly make up his mind. The women in line were all tittering and gasping at the sight.

One woman declared, "It's downright romantic how he protects that girl's honor."

Without a glance at the moaning man, I grabbed Elena's hand. "We're leaving," I told her shortly.

"The money box…" Elena stuttered still in shock at the sudden course of events.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the money box from the table and started to drag her away. The line of customers started shouting about how long they had been waiting in line, but I did not care. I just needed to get Elena far away from those horny bastards.

"Damon, stop! Slow down!" Elena said as I hurried her through the parking lot towards my car.

"What the Hell were you thinking, Elena?" I yelled, pushing her gently into the passenger seat of my car.

"What was I thinking?" Elena cried indignantly, "What were you thinking? You started this!"

"I don't even know what this is! I was just trying to help you by raising money for your stupid little festival charity event!" I barked at her.

Elena turned to burn holes through me with her angry doe eyes. It was actually spooky to see such normally gentle eyes filled with so much fury.

"That's rich," Elena said, "You were just trying to piss me off."

"I don't even know why you are pissed off," I said somewhat truthfully.

"You were kissing how many other girls," Elena accused.

"Obviously."

"So, that is not okay!" Elena hissed.

I took my eyes off the road to study her. She was seething. My jealousy theory had actually been right. Elena was hair-pulling mad because she did not want me kissing other girls.

"You're jealous," I said happily, a smirk growing on my face.

Elena made a choking sound, "No, I'm really not! I just…it makes me look like a fool for you to be carrying on with so many other women!"

"No one knows about us, baby. There's no one who can judge you. You were jealous. Admit it," I laughed.

"You should know better than to hang all over other women," Elena said.

"As you made very clear when we first started fucking, Elena, we are not in a relationship. I don't become a monk whenever you decide you are too busy to be bothered with me. I have women on the side. Deal with it," I ordered.

"But I'm not allowed to have men on the side," Elena said sarcastically.

I swallowed hard, "That's different. That jerk was being a pig."

"It wasn't bothering me. But it was definitely bothering you," Elena said triumphantly, "So, who's the jealous one?"

I pulled over on the side of the road to face her. I was overwhelmed by frustration, anger, and longing for this tiny woman.

"Do you not want me to see other women anymore?" I asked after a moment's pause.

Elena stared at me shocked by how agreeable I was being. She nodded mutely in response to my query.

"Fine, I can give up women," I acquiesced, "But you have to do the same thing. No dating or flirting with other guys."

"I can do that," Elena agreed.

"Alright, I guess we're each other's one and only's," I said.

"We are not dating," Elena said firmly.

"I never said we were," I said, holding up my palms in a motion of surrender.

"Okay."

I studied her for the first time that night. She looked freaking adorable. Elena was wearing a t-shirt that she must have decorated with glitter herself. She had apparently visited a face painting stand at some point as she sported a yin and yang sign on her left cheek. Even as I thought about how cute she looked, I could not miss how sexy she was either. Her t-shirt was tight enough to reveal the shape of her exquisite breasts. Her slender legs were showcased in tight jeans. And she was all mine.

"If I can't see other women, I'll need to be able to see you more often," I smirked.

"We see each other plenty," Elena said dryly.

"Yes, but I have urges only you can satisfy," I said.

I grabbed her hand and placed it on the growing bulge in my jeans. Her eyes widened, and she stared at me awestruck.

"Seriously? We've been arguing, how are you already…" Elena stammered.

"Well, one, you look so hot when you get all feisty. Two, it's been days since I last had you, and three, I'm feeling pretty possessive. You know, caveman instincts take over. Since I don't have a cave, you should just let me fuck you right here," I said.

"In the car?" Elena asked, "Someone could see."

"No one will see. It's too dark. And if they did, oh well," I reassured her.

"That's comforting," Elena muttered.

"I'll do all the work," I murmured, leaning forward to suck gently on her neck, "You can just lie back and relax."

"How do you even do this?" Elena asked.

"Lie down on the back seat," I ordered.

She crawled through the space between the front seats, her ass sticking up in the air. Playfully, I slapped her lightly on the ass making her squeal. Once she was settled, I adjusted the front seats as far forward as they could go to give us more room.

I crawled into the backseat to discover Elena had already taken off her jeans and panties. For all of her objections, she wanted it just as badly as I did.

I kneeled in front of her and began to take off my pants and boxers. Elena's hands reached out to help remove them as quickly as possible. I had to lift off of the seat slightly to pull them off and hit my head against the roof of the car. Elena giggled at my discomfort.

"You think that's funny?" I growled playfully.

"Definitely," Elena laughed, reaching out to stroke my cock lightly.

I closed my eyes as her hand gently moved up and down over my sensitive flesh. She collected the drops of precum from my tip and rubbed it along my shaft. I loved that she teased me back at every turn. She was such a little minx.

"Spread your legs for me, baby," I ordered.

Dutifully, Elena parted her legs revealing her moist kitty. I ran my finger through her folds, gathering up the wetness. She was so ready for me, and I had barely touched her yet.

I draped my body over hers, resting my weight on my forearms. Teasingly, I rubbed my cock against her folds. She squirmed beneath me, arching her back to get closer.

With an easy thrust of my hips, I entered her to the hilt. We both moaned at the contact, the noise reverberating through the car.

"So tight," I murmured somewhat deliriously as I felt her walls grip me.

I set a controlled pace, pulling out almost completely with every thrust before diving back in. I resisted the urge to pound into her, instead focusing on the explosive pleasure her tight body gave me with every thrust.

"Daaamooon," Elena moaned, wrapping one leg around my hips to pull me closer to her.

With the change in angle, I entered her more deeply and we both moaned loudly at the contact. I kept my pace slow but thrust into her deeply with every movement of my lower body. In rapture, Elena clawed at my back, her nails breaking the skin. With every pump of my hips, my pubic bone rubbed against her clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body.

It took only a few minutes before I felt the change in Elena's body.

"I'm going to…I'm going to cum," Elena panted, "Oh God, Damon!"

She tightened unbearably beneath me. Her orgasm ripped through her body, making her jerk on the leather seats. I loved watching Elena's face whenever she orgasmed. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, nose scrunching up in ecstasy. It was intoxicating knowing that I could give her so much pleasure that her eyes rolled into the back.

I slowed my thrusts to help Elena ride out her orgasm, but I had no intention of stopping. This time was different. For the first time, I actually held some claim over Elena. She was mine. No one else was allowed to touch her and that was awakening an animal instinct within me. The urge to mark her in some way was strong. I wanted her to cum screaming on my cock again and again.

Feeling the beginnings of my own orgasm beginning to stir, I increased the pace, thrusting deeply into the little portal that led to all my hopes and dreams. Elena recovered from her first orgasm quickly and began to lift her hips wildly to meet my thrusts.

Needing to get her off one more time, I reached between us to flick at her little nub. The moment I increased the pressure on her clit, Elena went wild beneath me. She arched her back as far off the seat as she could until only her head and shoulders remained on the leather. Helping her stay up, I wrapped my hands around her hips and thrust into her suspended body.

I rocketed into my orgasm, pulling Elena along with me into her second of the night. To my satisfaction, Elena screamed my name as her orgasm overtook her body. I spilled inside of her before collapsing on top of her completely exhausted.

"Damon," Elena said breathily after a moment, "You're squishing me."

"Sorry," I laughed, climbing off of her to pull on my pants.

"You know, I wasn't supposed to be done with the festival for another couple of hours. I could come over to your place for a little bit longer," Elena said seductively, running a hand along my biceps.

I smiled and kissed her sweetly. Elena Gilbert, a woman after my own heart. We kissed languidly for a few minutes before the inevitable passion between us began to explode. The kiss got hotter by the second and soon Elena was panting into my mouth while I teased her bottom lip with my tongue.

"I have a question," I said, breaking away from the kiss.

"What?" Elena demanded exasperated, trying to pull me back into the kiss.

I grinned at her lecherously, "I'm a rich man, baby. If a dollar buys a kiss, what can a couple thousand get me?"

**A/N: I had a hard time with this chapter and I'm not sure I'm satisfied with how it turned out. What do you guys think? Also, it is next to impossible to write about Damon when Elena's not there. Other than drink, womanize, and research the supernatural, what does he do? Thoughts?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Forgive me for not updating in so long. I was busy with finals and after finals parties and finalizing my summer plans to the point that I have not had time to write. If there seems like an extreme lack of parental guardianship over the next few chapters, that's probably because I can't bear to write Jenna at the moment after last week's episode *sniff*.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

"I'm bored," Damon complained moodily.

"It's not like I'm having so much fun either," I shot back.

We were sitting in the library of the boarding house while I did my mountainous pile of homework. I had made it very clear when he asked me to come over that I had to finish all of my schoolwork before we could have sex. He did not get to complain now.

"What if I do some of your homework to speed it along?" Damon suggested.

When I had arrived, Damon had greeted me in nothing but a pair of boxers. He had been ecstatic to see me as evidenced by his prominent erection. His plans had been shot down almost immediately. Every few minutes since then, Damon would remind me just how horny he was. It was not helping the situation of my own arousal.

I rolled my eyes at his antics, "If you do the work, I won't learn anything."

"You are like the poster child for the ideal teen. Every teacher's dream! It is really irritating," Damon groaned.

"The ideal teen does not screw around with vampires," I reminded him.

"One vampire," Damon corrected.

Ever since our agreement that we would only be intimate with each other, Damon had become very possessive. He liked to remind me on a regular basis about our new exclusivity. It also translated into even more unbelievable sex. It was like Damon was trying to prove that I could only be with him by giving me as many universe shattering orgasms as possible.

"Fine, you can help, but you can't do the work for me," I conceded, "Do you speak Spanish?"

"Fluently," Damon bragged.

"You can check my Spanish oral and tell me if I made any mistakes," I offered, passing him a handful of papers and a pen.

Damon settled back into the couch and started to read my papers. Every few minutes he would make a mark on the paper or cross something out. It was kind of irritating. I did not like being corrected when it came to my schoolwork. My desire to get a good grade was stronger, however, so I let it go. I could not afford to do badly on any of my assignments for the rest of the year after all of the failing grades I got during the sacrifice fiasco.

I frowned looking at the work sheet I was completing for history. I honestly had no idea how to answer the question, and I had left my textbook at school.

"Is there a history book in here somewhere?" I asked.

"A couple. What time period are you interested in?" Damon answered.

"Stuff from right before the Civil War."

Damon rolled his eyes dramatically, "Elena, you are talking to a walking history book. I actually lived back then, and I was pretty up to date in all of the politics from before the war. Everyone was paying attention back then to see if the south would secede."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid for not realizing he could answer the question, "What did the Wilmot Proviso do?"

"It made all of the territory won in the Mexican War free states. I was actually a kid when that happened it was…1846, I think. You should have heard Giuseppe railing against that one. I only really know about it because fifteen years later it was still all the old bastard could talk about," Damon smirked.

"Thanks," I said, smiling sweetly at him.

With his help, I was done in less than an hour. I had originally thought that it would take me at least three hours to finish all of my homework. I was feeling very grateful towards him and wanted him to know it.

I crawled forward onto his lap so that I was straddling him. Immediately, Damon pushed all of the papers to the side to focus on me. I peppered kisses all over his face, avoiding his lips. Damon's entire body – with one hardening exception – relaxed beneath me. He hummed contentedly as I stroked his cheek while nibbling on his ear.

"Thank you for helping me," I murmured.

"We're actually not done with all of your homework," Damon said.

I looked down at him curiously. He had a cocky and excited expression on his face that left me confused. Why would he be excited about more homework? And what homework was he talking about? I had done all of my assignments.

Picking up a piece of paper, Damon scribbled something on the sheet and then passed it to me.

"Solve that," he ordered.

(_(7+9)/4)*(12*2-4)-11=_

I ran through my order of operations quickly in my head and wrote the answer on the paper. My stomach did a flip of nervousness at the numbers staring back at me.

_69._

"You'll need to show me how to do it," I stated quietly, embarrassed at how completely unsure of myself I was.

"Obviously," Damon said, "That's why it is a lesson. I'll be teaching you. Let's go upstairs to the bedroom."

Damon took my hand and led me upstairs. He could sense how nervous I was and was being extra gentle with me.

I sat down on the bed, and he kneeled in front of me. The look on his face was unbearably gentle. I knew his libido was still raging but all outward signs of his arousal were hidden as he focused on making me more comfortable.

"There's no need to be so nervous. It's not like I've never ever ate you out before and you suck me off pretty regularly. You've gotten sinfully good at it too," Damon said playfully, his face twisting into a beautiful smirk.

"I'm okay now," I reassured him, feeling some of my nervousness abate, "Take your clothes off."

"You're sexy as hell when you take charge. You know that?" Damon remarked.

Standing up, Damon toyed with the bottom of his shirt. With teasing slowness, he pulled the charcoal material of his t-shirt upwards, exposing sliver by sliver his delicious chest. Never once did his eyes break contact with mine. When he tossed his shirt across the room, I almost moaned at just how beautiful he was. It was a battle trying to decide between losing myself in his piercing fuck me gaze or staring at his pale, muscled body.

There was something sensual in the way his hands caressed himself as he removed his jeans and boxers. One of his hands drifted across the flat expanse of his stomach and an answering ripple of heat flared in mine.

I was burning up and my thoughts had become hazy. All I knew was that I needed my clothes off now. There was no show for Damon, I just ripped my clothes off my body and threw them over the side of the bed. I wanted to feel ever inch of his naked skin pressed intimately against mine.

"There are a couple ways to do this," Damon said, his eyes sweeping across my naked form, "We can do it one of the easy, obvious ways, or we could try something a little more adventurous. Your choice."

"Isn't a 69 adventurous on its own?" I questioned.

"Yes, no matter what this will blow your mind, but one way will make your head spin too," Damon replied, a lecherous gleam in his eyes.

"Fine," I agreed breathlessly, "I want the adventurous way. Tell me what to do."

The look on Damon's face was one of pure elation, "Lie down on the bed and let your head hang over the edge."

I settled into the position he told me to. Damon walked in front of me so that he stood over my face. It was an excellent position to have access to his cock. Unable to help myself, I gripped him firmly and began to rub his precum along his length as a lubricant.

"Elena," Damon hissed, "So good."

Damon bent forward so that he was draped across my body with his hands gripping my ankles. My heart beat faster realizing that we were ready. There was something so wicked about the mutual pleasure that I knew was right around the corner.

To my complete and utter surprise, my entire body was suddenly lifting off the bed. I shrieked at the unexpected change in positions. Damon steadied my legs so that they rested against his shoulders and neck. This was utterly ridiculous!

My nerves came back tenfold. I had not realized Damon's idea of adventurous was an upside down 69. I was completely suspended off the bed, entirely at the mercy of Damon's strength holding me up. I had not even realized that this position was possible until now.

It really was ideal, I realized. My face was parallel with his excited cock. It would be too easy to reach a hand forward and stroke the rigid length of him, to dart my tongue out and taste the droplets of precum that were collecting at his tip. From the warm breath ghosting over my pussy, I could guarantee that Damon had an excellent position as well.

"It's called the cascade position," Damon said, his mouth tantalizingly close to my privates.

The anticipation was going to kill me. A bolt of lust akin to need shot through my body, electrifying me from the inside out. Without a moment of hesitation, I wrapped my mouth around Damon's tip and sucked.

He bucked his hips forward at the contact, forcing more of his length into my mouth. I slid my mouth downward to take in half of his length, greedily consuming him. Damon dove into my exposed slit, lapping at me with a gusto that had me breathless. The sensations derived from his soft yet sinful tongue teasing my clit were indescribable.

We continued in synchronization, pleasuring one another. When Damon's tongue delved into my moist entrance, I lost all of my concentration. Damon's member remained in my mouth, but I could do nothing but groan and moan around it as I was overcome by the pleasure of Damon's wicked tongue.

"Elena," Damon said, making me groan that he had stopped working my pussy, "I know I'm incredibly distracting but it takes two to tango and right now I'm dancing by myself."

Taking the hint, I steadied myself and took all of him into my mouth. He hit the back of my throat, but by this point I had enough experience not to gag around his impressive girth. I swallowed around him, making him moan loudly. I wanted to repay him for my previous neglect.

For the next several minutes, we went at it with a sybaritic fervor. The only noises in the room were our mutual moans of satisfaction and the wet smacks of oral pleasure. I could feel the beginnings of my orgasm acutely. My twitching clit required Damon's touch, and I awkwardly grinded my hips in an attempt to make him suckle it once more. It was difficult to move my lower body with my body positioned upside down. Damon laughed at the jerky movements of my hips, which made my pussy tingle in delight.

Happy to oblige, Damon sucked my rosebud gently into his mouth and applied the barest amount of pressure. To completely blow my mind, he inserted one finger inside my already quivering walls. The penetration combined with the external stimulation shattered my world immediately and brought my orgasm to fruition.

The intensity of my orgasm made my eyes roll back in my head. It was so perfect. A feeling that had kept man and woman enamored with each other for millennia. It was so puissant that the rest of the world outside the realm of that feeling completely disappeared. The entire experience was made all the more powerful by the odd sensation of being upside down. My blood was rushing in opposite directions, split between my head and my pussy.

My hands grappled desperately to find some purchase. I managed to grab a hold of the sheets and claw at them in a frenzy. Using the little mental powers still left in me, I laved my tongue along Damon's cock to push him closer to his own release. It was not short in coming, with him spilling his seed in my mouth after a voracious suck to his head.

My sustained orgasm continued for a matter of minutes. Long after I had abandoned Damon's cock, he continued to tongue my slit, prolonging my rapture. All of the blood rushing to my head mixed with the staggering power of my orgasm became all too much. With a heavy blink of an eye, I fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

I returned from the land of dreams to find Damon staring at me, his head propped on one arm.

"Creeper," I muttered, rolling onto my back to stare at the ceiling.

"I'm known to sometimes stalk my prey. On a scale of one to ten, this does not even rate on my creepy scale," Damon laughed.

"At least you admit," I grimaced.

I glanced down to notice I was wearing a cotton camisole and panties in matching shades of lavender. Damon himself was shirtless. With my foot, I tested his leg, revealing that he was wearing a pair of lounge pants.

"You redressed me?" I questioned, "That is a decidedly un-you thing to do."

"You're right. I do prefer you naked and sweaty," Damon purred, "Since you came so hard you passed out, however, I figured it would be best to cover up your sinful body. This way I avoid the temptation of taking you again since you are clearly not up for it."

"Very noble of you," I commented.

"I still can't believe you passed out. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm devastatingly good in bed, but who knew sweet, innocent Elena Gilbert would someday let a vampire fuck her into unconsciousness?"

"Well, maybe you don't know as much about me as you think," I said playfully.

"Perhaps not," Damon murmured in a subdued tone, completely shifting the atmosphere of the room.

I winced at the brief flash of despair that contorted his perfect features. The line between us was so hard to keep track of. I never knew what was going to upset him. How was I supposed to find a balance between being cruelly detached and cruelly involved?

"It's not like there are so many people that know me better than you," I reassured him, "Bonnie, Jeremy, maybe Caroline."

"Stefan?" Damon asked, the tiniest hint of unhappiness evident in the tightness of his jaw.

"I once thought so."

"Well, let me get to know you better," Damon suggested, "If I ask you questions, will you answer them?

I considered his intentions before agreeing, "Within reason and only if I can ask you questions too."

"What did you want to be when you grew up?" Damon questioned immediately.

"When I was little, I wanted to be a princess," I joked, "Seriously, I wanted to be a writer. Fiction mostly. It was something my mom always wanted me to do. We shared it together."

"Do you consider yourself all grown up now?" Damon asked.

It was an odd question that actually required some thought. On the one hand, I had made life-and-death decisions that required the maturity of someone much older. My encounters with the supernatural had forced me to abandon all of the petty dilemmas of childhood and focus on the bigger picture. On the other hand, I was still seventeen years old. Just because I had not had time to worry about sleepovers and Prom did not mean they were not important to me. One thing was for sure, when I was with Damon I felt like a woman.

"Yes, I think I've grown up this past year," I answered finally.

"Good," Damon smirked, "I didn't much like feeling like I was fucking jailbait."

"My turn, you've asked two questions in a row," I said.

"Fire away."

"Do you like yourself?" I asked.

I met his gaze head on, forcing him to look at me. It was an intense question, yes, but I wanted an honest answer from him.

"I like myself plenty. Some would say too much," Damon said, waggling his eyebrows.

"That's not the real answer and you and I both know it," I said.

Damon sighed heavily, "I don't know the real answer, Elena. There are some parts I like and others that I don't. You know I've done things that are unforgivable. It's all too complicated to give an exact answer."

"You said the things you've done are unforgivable. Do you forgive yourself?" I asked quietly.

"No. I have a hard time making myself care and face everything, but the guilt is always there. It's something that will never go away," Damon admitted.

I was overcome with the urge to kiss him. Indulging it, I kissed him gently. There was a powerful emotion in the kiss that I could not identify. It made my eyelids flutter at the intensity.

"So, do you like Miracle Whip?" Damon asked mischievously, abruptly ending the moment and changing the atmosphere of the room.

"What?"

"It's my next question. I've heard it's the issue dividing America," he said, referring to the television campaign.

"I loathe Miracle Whip," I answered seriously.

Damon shook his head, "I could sustain myself on nothing but blood and Miracle Whip for a century."

"That is disgusting. You are a complete freak," I said, wrinkling my nose.

"Next you'll tell me you don't like pancakes," Damon muttered.

"I love pancakes!" I defended myself loudly, "I just don't like syrup."

"You are so…unnatural."

"Says the vampire," I said, "Hottest actresses?"

Damon looked at me suspiciously, "That's a loaded question. Are you sure you're not trying to set me up?"

"It's just a question, Damon," I reassured him.

"Emanuelle Chriqui, she looks like an older version of you," he said.

"Smooth," I remarked dryly, "But that's a cop out. Try again."

"Fine, I'll answer. Rita Hayworth was gorgeous. I liked Marilyn Monroe."

"You so had sex with her," I said with a giggle.

Damon smiled at me, "I cannot tell a lie. We spent a lovely and very pleasurable weekend together. Jessica Lange was also hot."

"What was she in?" I asked, not familiar with the name.

"You'd probably know her from King Kong and Tootsie, but she's been in a lot of things. In terms of modern day women, I like Scarlett Johanssen, Blake Lively, though I swear I've never seen a thing she's been in, and Mila Kunis," Damon listed off, "Can you figure out why I like Mila Kunis?"

"Nope."

"Dark hair. Smooth, olive skin. Tiny, tight little body with curves in all the right places. Remind you of anyone?" Damon said seductively, eyeing my body with a predator's gaze all the while.

I nodded my head in mock understanding and said, "Katherine."

"You're a real comedian," Damon scowled, "What about you?"

"Jon Hamm and Matt Damon. When Ryan Reynolds cries, I weep that someone that beautiful is sad," I answered.

Damon rolled his eyes, "You're so predictable."

"If you could go back to one isolated moment in history and make a different decision, what would it be?" I asked.

Maybe I wanted him to say he would not have killed Jeremy or that he would have never loved Katherine. I was not sure. Whatever the case, I held my breath, anxiously awaiting his response.

Damon ran hand through his hair wearily, "There was a girl I killed in 1889. If I could, I would change that moment and let her live."

I frowned, "That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I thought you'd say something about Stefan or your relationship with Katherine."

"I could never have chosen to be a vampire, but I'm happy that I am. I could have died at the turn of the twentieth century and never met you. This handsome face would be nothing but dirt," Damon justified.

"But what was so special about this girl?" I asked, "Tell me about her."

"There's nothing special about her really," Damon shrugged, "I knew her when she was a child, a baby, and I was human. I ran into her in Baltimore all those years later. She was working as a prostitute, real down on her luck. I don't know why but I decided to help her."

"You helped her?" I mimicked, surprised.

"I didn't fuck her or anything. I wasn't a john, but I helped her out. She lived with me and I took care of all the expenses."

"For how long?" I breathed.

"Two years."

"Why'd you kill her?" I asked.

"I'd seen Stefan that day for the first time in about five years. He was already fully converted to his bunny diet by then, and we had a horrible fight about the way I lived my life and about Katherine. I went home, and Victoria, that was her name, she would not stop talking. I wanted to make her stop so I killed her."

"That's it? You lived with her for two years. You must have cared about her!" I said.

"I was fond of her. She was the only link to my past," Damon agreed.

I wrapped my arms around my chest protectively. A cold chill had settled throughout the room. The way he described everything was so straightforward. He was openly admitting to killing a woman he cared about because she talked too much.

"Why would you change that moment?" I asked, using all of my courage to continue on this unpleasant subject.

"Up until that point, I rarely killed. I was morally gray but I had my humanity. I turned it off when I killed Victoria. I turned it off for over a century after that," Damon said, brow furrowed in pain.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," I apologized.

I had not wanted to dredge up painful memories from his past. Honestly, I was looking for insight into Damon's relationship with Katherine and any of his remaining feelings for her. Instead, I saw some of Damon's scar-ridden soul. That he had fallen so deeply into the abyss and was now fighting to crawl his way back out into the light made him appear more beautiful to me than ever.

"If I didn't want to answer the question, I wouldn't have," Damon said shortly, "I've always been honest to you – with a few notable exceptions – I'm not going to change that now."

I curled up against him, pressing my body against his intimately, "What you did to her was wrong, yes, but you are becoming a person worthy of forgiveness now. I see it every day."

Damon stared deeply into my eyes. There was hope in his cerulean orbs mixed in with the pain. As distant and closed off as Damon could be at times, his eyes were always traitorous to his intentions of appearing ambivalent. At any given moment they flashed, widened, or squinted in accordance with his mood. They were captivating.

"Final question," Damon murmured, "And this one's for all the marbles."

I blinked warily at him, "Shoot."

Damon leaned forward, invading my personal space with his presence. He radiated a dark intensity that seeped into my body with a chilling thoroughness. No part of me was left unaffected by him. Part of me was drawn to his aura, fascinated by the power he emitted. The other part wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. It was too much, feeling like I was drowning simply because I could not understand that much intensity.

Stroking my cheek with feather like touches, Damon asked, "Could you ever care for me? Could you want me for more than just this?"

I froze, my entire body stiffening in shock. It was on my tongue to chastise him, to remind him of Stefan and of all the things he'd ever done to me. The plaintive look in his eyes cut short all of my reprimands, however. Only for the briefest second, I was able to see the vulnerability flash across his face. It happened as swiftly as a comet, and it was just as magnificent.

"I already ask too much of you," I demurred, rubbing my eyes lightly to prevent any tears from collecting.

"True," Damon agreed, "You do ask an enormous amount from me for nothing in return. But that's what I'm asking. Can you give me something in return?"

"Maybe. I want to, but I'm not sure I can," I answered honestly.

"Could we try?" Damon pleaded, "Let me take you on a date."

I should run screaming in the opposite direction, I thought. This was exactly the opposite of what I wanted. Dealing with another emotionally stressful relationship would only suck me back into the darkness and drama.

All of my reasonings did not matter. I knew my answer the moment he asked.

"Yes."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Finally after almost two months, I'm back! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to last update. I don't really have a great excuse. I've been doing a lot of vacationing, and I just got sidetracked.**

**Lots of smut this chapter so be prepared.**

**There's a brief discussion in the middle about the Civil War that mildly touches on race. I know that race is a very sensitive subject, and I certainly hope there isn't anything offensive there. I am a huge proponent of tolerance. Nothing drives me more crazy than bigotry, so don't look too deeply into anything written. This is merely how I imagine Elena and Damon would approach this particular issue.**

Damon's POV

If there was one thing that drove me crazy, it was incompetence – a disease that seemed to have spread throughout the population of the world. Was it too much to ask for capable help?

All I wanted was to arrange a date that would eviscerate the loftiest of Elena's expectations. Maybe it was wishful thinking to imagine that somehow I could win Elena over through one perfect date. Maybe the date and the sex could pull it off… I should really thank Stefan for never truly treating Elena to the luxuries the Salvatore fortune could provide.

My mind was distracted with images of Elena writhing beneath my tongue, our legs tangling in crisp, white sheets.

Unfortunately, the only way my fantasies – the romantic and the wanton – could come true was if I actually pulled off this date. At the moment, the limo service that was supposed to pick us up was trying to ruin everything. It was not my problem that some idiot lacking any semblance of logic had double-booked me.

"Listen," I snapped. "I don't care if the pope needs the car to drive him to meet the president! I booked this limo and I expect it and the chauffer to be parked outside my house within the next two hours."

The blathering, poor excuse for a woman on the other end of the phone did nothing to placate me. I ground my teeth together in annoyance. In the back of my mind, I felt the vampiric part of my nature begin to awaken. This woman should count herself lucky that we were holding this conversation over the phone rather than in person. It would have ended badly for her.

"I'll pay double," I finally bit out, exasperated with our stalemate.

The change in the woman's demeanor was instantaneous. Instead of stubborn surliness, I was now presented with generous compliance. Five minutes after I had uttered the magic word 'double,' I hung up the phone with the promise that the limo was on its way.

Elena would have been absolutely stunned by how unfair it was that I got what I wanted by flaunting my money around. She was so endearingly naïve as to believe that the majority of the world operated under the same code of ethics as she did. She had no idea how special she truly was. It made me smile.

I spent longer than I cared to admit preparing myself physically for my date. Normally, I would only take a shower in order to groom for a woman. The slightly awed look on Elena's face whenever she thought I looked good, however, motivated me to put extra effort into my appearance.

I was pleased with the final result of my work. My black Armani suit was paired with a crisp, white shirt worn with the top buttons unbuttoned. The juxtaposition between dark and light made me blink when I looked in the mirror. It resembled the contrast between my inky hair and light skin. If it was not too cocky to think – not that I cared if it was – I thought the neutral colors made the blue of my eyes brighten in a way I was sure Elena would find unbearably sexy. Hugo Boss cufflinks were the only adornment to the outfit.

I did not expect Elena to appreciate the emphasis I placed on wearing the best designers. Elena could probably not distinguish the difference between a tux from Armani and Men's Warehouse. If given the opportunity, I would spoil her with the best of everything someday.

The limo arrived on time to my satisfaction and I made it to Elena's before noon. It was an early start for a date, but we had about a five hour drive ahead of us. It was a bit ridiculous to have dressed up for the car ride, but I figured if our formal wear was too uncomfortable we could always take our clothes off – a not unpleasant turn of events.

I rang the bell of the Gilbert house and waited until the door opened. Instead of Elena, Jeremy opened the door.

"Damon? What are you doing here, man?" Jeremy asked. He eyed my clothes, understandably confused.

I needed to have my head checked. After all of the careful planning I had put into this date, I had already fucked it up. How had I not considered that Jeremy or Jenna might be home? Elena would be pissed if anyone found out about us. I still had enough brain power to realize that.

"I'm here to…"

"He's driving me to the lake house, Jeremy," Elena interrupted, appearing in the doorway.

I raised an eyebrow at her appearance. She was wearing a lumpy, grey sweat suit with her hair in a curly ponytail. She was carrying a neon pink back pack and wearing very little makeup. Maybe she had mentally checked out of the conversation when I told her to dress up.

Her eyes visibly widened when she took in my appearance, however. All of my hard work immediately paid off. She subconsciously licked her lips. The idea of Elena eating me up briefly flashed through my mind.

"Damon's heading that way for a formal dinner and he offered to drop me off," Elena continued.

"Who's going to the lake house again?" Jeremy asked casually, resting his weight against the doorframe.

Elena nervously ran a hand through her ponytail and said, "Caroline might stop by. A few girls from school said they might be interested."

Jeremy looked at her skeptically. If I had not wanted Elena to get away with her deception, I would have laughed at how horribly she butchered her story. She had far too many tells. It was safe to say Elena could cross a career as a spy off her list.

Hmm, Elena as a spy was an interesting thought. That would be hot. She could kick some ass in skintight leather pants. Elena Gilbert: Damon's Angel.

Jeremy reluctantly re-entering the house brought me back to reality. Elena bounded out of the house, ignoring the hand I offered her. I supposed it would look suspicious if I held her hand as I walked her to the car, but it still smarted that she rejected my offer.

"That's a limo," Elena stammered, pointing at the classic stretch I was walking towards.

"Yep," I replied smugly.

She was absolutely awestruck, a good sign that she would be similarly wowed by everything else I had planned. I was too good.

Elena shattered my cocky musings by snickering, "Where are we going a high school prom?"

My face twisted into a scowl. "Of course not. You will be amazed by where we are going." I motioned us closer to the limo and the waiting chauffer.

As the chauffer opened the door, Elena smirked at me. I loved it when she was in a playful mood like this! She clambered into the limo with a good bit of tripping over her own feet. I noticed Jeremy watching us from the window with the sinking suspicion that Jeremy could see through Elena's deceptions as easily as I could. I put my concerns out of my mind, and with considerably more grace than Elena had exhibited, entered the limo.

Elena had barely settled into her seat before she dumped all of the contents of the pink backpack on the leather seats. Pounds of makeup scattered everywhere. With sure fingers, Elena began to curl her eyelashes with a curler that looked better suited for a torture chamber.

"I know I look like a mess," Elena apologized, "But I brought all the supplies I need to fix myself up in the car. I didn't want Jeremy to catch on that we were going somewhere together."

I watched fascinated as Elena primped and applied makeup at lightning speed. Watching women apply makeup had always interested me. There was something arousing about the idea that a woman was putting so much effort into looking attractive for my viewing pleasure. It was almost like a secret ritual that by watching I would be able to decipher the allure of women. Finished with her makeup, Elena began to unzip and remove her sweat suit.

"Already? I thought we might have some fun on the drive, but I didn't realize you'd want to start so quickly," I laughed.

Elena rolled her eyes, "My dress is underneath, you idiot."

Sure enough the lumps of her sweat suit turned out to be an elegant dress bunched up beneath the gray pants. Whipping her hair out of her ponytail, Elena let her hair fall down in soft curls.

She was gorgeous. More than gorgeous, she was a goddess. It almost burned my eyes to look at her. Elena wore a vibrant blue dress with off the shoulder sleeves that fell a few inches above her knees. Everything about the ensemble was tasteful yet it was perfectly alluring from the amount of skin revealed down to her fuck-me red heels.

"Are you sure you don't want to start yet?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows mischievously.

"You only have one setting don't you?" Elena laughed, "Where are we going anyway? You didn't say."

"We are heading to Atlanta. I have a full evening planned for us. There are a couple of places I want to show you and an extremely well-equipped hotel room for later," I answered.

With a genuine smile lighting up her pretty face, Elena laughed, "What is it with you taking me to Georgia? You have some bizarre fixation on that state. I'd like to introduce you to the other 49 states, Salvatore. They're lonely since you've been neglecting them."

"How many states have you even been to?" I shot back. "I've visited all 50 and most of the countries in the world, so I'm fairly certain I am winning this competition."

Elena rubbed her neck contemplatively, "I've spent a few summers at the beach in North Carolina. I went to Disney World when I was eleven, so that's Florida right there. Jenna lived in Pennsylvania for a while. I visited her there and we went to Baltimore for a day while we were there. I've obviously been to Virginia and Georgia…"

"So you've been to a little over a handful of states. I'm not really counting the states we drove through to get to Georgia the first time. You were completely unconscious so it doesn't count."

"Will it count this time?"

"If you manage to stay awake," I teased.

Elena frowned, a small crease forming between her eyebrows, "It's gonna be a really long drive."

"Are you not looking forward to spending time with me?" I teased, somewhat worried about her answer.

"Of course not. I just can't imagine how we're going to entertain ourselves for so many hours," Elena assured me.

"There's plenty to do. I have blankets and pillows if you're interested in resting. You have my delicious body at your full disposal. And if all else fails, we have TV."

I pressed a button a small remote and a tiny TV console appeared. Elena visibly jumped, surprised at the sudden appearance of the television.

"Remember when I acted all cool and nonchalant about the limo before?" Elena said. "I take it all back! This is really amazing!"

I grinned at her enthusiasm. Now this was the reaction I had wanted to achieve! I lifted her easily off the seat and repositioned her in my lap. Squealing, Elena threw her arms around my neck. I held her, pressed to my chest as we laughed together.

Elena pulled back slightly to kiss me. The familiar feeling of contentment that always hit me whenever I was kissing Elena roared to life. Kissing Elena was more healing than an extended spa vacation. Every muscle in my body relaxed and all of the worries and stresses of life melted away until all that was left in my consciousness was Elena.

With deft fingers, I maneuvered her dress to bunch at her hips. Elena immediately complied and spread her legs so that she was straddling my thighs with her own. Curious about what underwear she would choose for a fancy night out, I glanced down. The sight of her lacy red lingerie had me at full-mast immediately.

I teasingly brushed my fingers against the lace, enjoying the way Elena shivered against my hand. Another brush of my hand against her covered pussy brought a desperate mewl from her lips. Elena's hands reached up compulsively to grip my shoulders. I continued to gently brush against her covered core while Elena groaned and nuzzled my neck.

"Please, Damon," Elena whined, "More."

Always the gentleman, I slid my hand beneath her panties and impaled her on two fingers. She was satisfyingly wet and the liquid coated my fingers. I pumped in and out of her tight channel, reveling in the sensation. She was unbelievably tight even after our weeks of debauched sex. The memory of how hot and tight she felt around my cock made it difficult for me to hold off from just penetrating her immediately and fucking her into the seat of the limo.

Elena tipped her head backwards and arched her back at the onset of her orgasm. With my free hand, I undid the buttons of my pants and released my cock. Greedily, I tore her panties to the side and impaled her on my length. Her walls were still fluttering from her orgasm and provided a delicious friction against my cock.

"Fuck, Damon!" Elena shrieked, unprepared to be entered so abruptly. With the buildup of wetness from her orgasm, I was able to slide to the hilt in one thrust. I paused to allow Elena to adjust to the depth of the penetration.

"Ride me, princess," I ordered, bucking upwards to emphasize my message.

Using my shoulders for support, Elena slowly lifted herself up and down. She swiveled her hips in a circle while continuing the movements of her lower body. Elena's eyes rolled into the back of her head every time the circular movement of her hips caused my cock to grace across her g-spot.

I tugged the straps of her dress down to reveal her breasts. I grinned when I saw that she was not wearing a bra. Wasting no time, I caught a nipple in my mouth and began to tug on it gently, flicking my tongue across the needy bud. Her swaying and bouncing breasts were a delightful counterpoint to the pleasure emanating from our lower bodies.

Elena started bouncing faster on my cock, straining the muscles in her legs to keep up her fast rhythm. I brought my hands to her hips and helped slam her down on my cock, easing her movements. I thrust upwards to meet her causing Elena to moan rather loudly. I wondered with some amusement whether the driver could hear her cries of pleasure.

Chocolate eyes arrested my attention when Elena all but demanded eye contact by staring me down rather fiercely. There was an emotional intimacy in eye contact that was not necessarily there during regular, plain sex. With any other woman, I was likely to avoid building such a connection at all costs. With Elena though, it brought the sex to an entirely new stratosphere. I felt reassured that she was mine and even more interestingly that I was hers. We belonged to one another.

With the pad of my finger, I rubbed and manipulated her clitoris to get her off as quickly as possible. I would not be able to hold myself together for much longer, and I needed her to cum now. Thankfully, Elena was always too eager to comply and immediately toppled over into the abyss. We came together, our screams of ecstasy bouncing throughout the walls of the limo.

This was truly what it meant to be connected to another person.

"Joey belongs with Pacey, obviously," Elena stated passionately, "I'm just saying Dawson belongs with Joey!"

"So you want this Dawson character to be alone forever pining after the girl he loves," I summarized.

Elena nodded her head fervently, "Yes! Dawson and Jen are gross together!"

"If you want them to be alone and miserable you must not like either of them very much," I commented.

"I don't dislike Dawson, he's just such a…such a little boy all the time. Jen, however, is awful! She walks around all of season one with this I'm-so-perfect-it-hurts pained look on her face. Your life's not that bad, hun, get over it!"

I nodded warily figuring it was better to simply agree with her on this subject than to try to debate. Not that I had a point to debate. Two hours ago I could say with complete certainty that I had never viewed the TV show _Dawson's Creek_. Now I was up to my ears in imaginary love triangles. _Love triangles! Goodie!_

"You know, I am feeling seriously unmanned right now," I said.

"Deal with it," Elena shot back, snuggling closer to my body.

We were sprawled out across the seats of the limo with Elena all but lying on top of me. Her head rested on my shoulder and a blanket was tossed loosely over our legs. Elena had meticulously redressed after we finished our bout of lovemaking with the exception of her shoes while I had removed my jacket for the duration of the limo ride. It was very cozy; it was a nice feeling just to sit and do something as mundane as watch TV with Elena.

There had been a variety of good shows to choose from when we had turned on the television. I had narrowed it down – with some difficulty – to two blockbuster movies that in my opinion we could both enjoy. I was overruled. Instead, we were now watching _Dawson's Creek_, and I could not for the life of me remember how she convinced me to watch it.

Who was I kidding? It took barely anything for her to convince me that a soap opera aimed at a teenage audience would be fun. She just made the cutest faces whenever I made her happy. Faces that made me want to please her over and over again just to see them reappear.

"Tell me something about you," Elena ordered during a commercial.

"Something about me…" I mused thoughtfully, wondering what type of story she had in mind.

"When was the first time you went to Georgia?" Elena supplied.

I sighed, "You have a knack for asking the deepest questions."

"What do you mean? When did you first go to Georgia is a pretty surface of the barrel question," Elena defended.

"I went to Georgia about ten years after I became a vampire and nothing particularly interesting happened there. What's significant about it is that I was ordered to march to Georgia during the war and that's when I defected," I said.

"You almost had to fight in Georgia?" Elena said shocked, "The north devastated it. You could have died in battle!"

"I'm well aware. That along with my philosophical hesitations about the war in the first place were the reasons I left the Confederacy. I was never a big supporter of the war but I was not against it either," I said.

Elena snorted, "How could you not be against it? Politicians can try to rewrite history as much as they like. The truth is that it was a war about slavery, and slavery is wrong. It seems pretty black and white to me."

"You did not grow up being told it was okay," I pointed out. "Besides, there were other motivations behind the war that I understood. But as I said, I had hesitations about the south's plans so I defected."

"Fine," Elena conceded, "I still can't imagine how you could have ever been okay with all that stuff."

Feeling a little short-tempered, I snapped, "I'm not racist, Elena. As times changed and science disproved everything I had been taught as a child, I adjusted. You don't see me treating Bonnie like she's less than me."

"Yes, you do. You treat Bonnie horribly. On many occasions you've threatened to kill her," Elena protested.

I rolled my eyes, "That's because I'm a dick in general, Elena. It has nothing to do with race. I actually don't mind Sabrina that much. She's a little judgy, but we're on the same team now so I'm fine with her."

"What are we doing on this date anyway?" Elena asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"My plans include dinner with a show – what kind of show I won't say – some sight-seeing tomorrow, and in between a five star hotel complete with a fluffy king-sized bed."

"That sounds lovely," Elena murmured, pressing a gentle kiss against my neck.

I leaned forward and captured her lips with my own. We kissed languidly, my hands tangled in her coffee locks. Even after our previous tryst, the kiss heated up quickly. I really could not get enough of her.

"You know, it's in pretty poor taste to have sex with the girl you're taking out, before you take her out," Elena said.

"I'm untraditional, but I'll make it up to you," I purred.

A sudden burst of inspiration hit me, and I grabbed the remote to change the channel.

"What are you doing?" Elena screeched, "Pacey was about to come on! You are ruining the experience!"

"I want to try something with you, and it requires changing the channel," I said.

The emotional music of _Dawson's Creek_ was replaced by the barely tolerable music customary of cheap porn. A man and woman were engaged in cunnigulus on the screen. The woman moaned rather exaggeratedly, bucking her hips with every swipe of the man's tongue.

"Oh God!" Elena gasped, "That's…porn!"

"Good call," I praised sarcastically, "I'm glad you can tell."

"Why are we watching porn?" Elena demanded, glancing nervously at the screen out of the corner of her eye.

"Porn isn't just for masturbation, you know. You can't tell me that it isn't somewhat arousing to watch others fuck and get each other off," I whispered in her ear.

The couple on the screen switched positions so that the woman was now sucking off the man. He fucked her mouth rather roughly, but she continued to moan without stop.

"You know you love to suck my cock," I told her huskily, "I'm completely under your control in that moment where I'm teetering on the edge and you're the only one who can send me over. It makes you feel powerful."

Elena's breath became shallower, and she stopped pretending to not watch the people on the screen. The porn stars were not nearly as attractive as we were but they still cut a sexy image in the throes of passion.

"Touch me," Elena breathed.

Happy to oblige, I began to lave the side of her neck with my tongue. I nibbled the particularly sensitive spot beneath her left ear that made Elena shudder with pleasure. A few well placed kisses to her neck was all that it took to have Elena practically vibrating in bliss.

I unzipped her dress and removed the offending piece of material along with her panties. My pants followed almost immediately. I positioned a compliant Elena on her hands and knees on the floor of the limo, facing the television. Every caress of the couple was on display for Elena's lusty gaze.

The couple on the TV was rapidly moving through a variety of positions. The man fucked the woman into the wall, bent her knees over her head and slammed into her pussy, penetrated her from behind while she was bent over a desk. It was a cornucopia of erotic images that only served to heighten the lust that always burned between me and Elena.

I gently eased into her, allowing only the head of my cock to penetrate her. Elena moaned and bucked backwards against my erection, forcing me deeper. Amused by her natural and immediate response, I entered her entirely. I forced myself to breath normally as she pulsed around my cock. No one tried my ability to maintain control as effectively as Elena.

Bending forward, I draped my body on top of hers so that I could nibble her neck. I set a slow rhythm that matched the beat of the cheesy music in the porno. With one hand I tweaked her nipples, switching between the two periodically.

"Shirt," Elena mumbled, "Off!"

Smirking, I complied with her order and removed my dress shirt, unbuttoning it quickly so that I could return to the more enjoyable activities at hand. I pressed my naked chest into Elena's back. She shivered and thrust her hips backwards with the clear intent of making me continue thrusting inside of her.

I pulled out almost entirely, purely to make her mewl in displeasure. I looked down at my cock, slick and shiny with her juices and swallowed convulsively. It was by far a sexier image than the porn. With a powerful thrust, I reentered her body and started up again in a slow but powerful rhythm.

"Do you like watching them, Elena?" I whispered in her ear. "Does it turn you on knowing that they are feeling the same delicious feelings you are right now? With each thrust they get closer to coming, they feel those little tingles of pleasure that make you cry out. Does watching them make you wet?"

Elena nodded jerkily, arching her back and sighing in pleasure. Her orgasm erupted suddenly, her pussy clenching my cock in a vice-like grip that sent me over the edge within seconds. I spilled deeply insider her, shouting out my pleasure. It felt like I had been hit dead on by a truck carrying an over-sized load. Merely breathing was difficult.

"At the rate we're going, I'll have made you cum five more times before we hit the Georgia border," I panted, pulling myself out of her.

"Oh God," Elena groaned, collapsing in a pile onto the floor of the limo.

In response, I just laughed.

**A/N: Next up is the date! I already know where they're going but if anyone knows somewhere really cool in Atlanta feel free to tell me in your review and I might include it. So, how was my return to this story?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello again, my poor, lovely, patient readers. I am so sorry. Last chapter I promised to update faster and then I reneged. I just lost all of my TVD inspiration this summer. Since the premiere though, I've been back to writing. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual but that's because I wanted to get something to all of you as soon as possible. I kept everyone waiting long enough. Okay, without further adieu, on with the show!**

Elena's POV

"So where is everyone?" I asked.

Damon's mouth quirked up and he answered smoothly, "They were convinced to stay on the first floor for the next few hours."

I met his smirk with my own. "Convinced or compelled."

"Bribed."

"I should probably be upset that you're spending so much money on this," I frowned.

"It wasn't that much," Damon countered.

"You all but shut down the entire Atlanta aquarium," I pointed out dubiously. "That had to cost a fortune."

Damon shrugged, "Spending money helps the economy. I'm just doing my patriotic duty. Besides, what does money do for me? It just sits, collecting dust in an old vault."

I made a non-committal harrumph. It was beyond me to approve of such an ostentatious display of wealth yet it was a bit romantic. It's not like he bought me a diamond – a gift I could not possibly accept. It was just an unbelievably expensive date.

"This is the biggest aquarium in the world you know," Damon said, gesturing to our surroundings.

"It's beautiful."

And it was. I sat cross-legged in front of a wall sized display of fish indigenous to the Caribbean. Each second brought a fresh array of brightly colored fish swimming past my spot on the floor. Greens, yellows, blues, reds! It was a veritable kaleidoscope of the most stunning colors. It was almost difficult to look at. It was blinding.

Damon sank down to his knees next to me and stroked idly through my hair. He kissed my cheeks – feather light touches that were more affectionate than sexual. As he pulled away, I could have sworn I heard a whispered, "You're beautiful." But it was too quiet for me to be certain.

Effortlessly, Damon stood from his crouch, pulling me with him. "I have another surprise for you," Damon informed me.

"Dolphins," I said knowingly.

Damon looked at me sharply, annoyance on his face, "How did you know?"

"I'm a girl. Girls like dolphins. You are trying to make me happy. It's not a terrible leap in logic," I replied.

I could not help the small, excited smile that curled the corners of my mouth. He had really gone above and beyond to make me happy. And I was going to get to see a dolphin!

"I have permission to bring a dolphin into the pool area," Damon said. "You can feel free to touch it…swim with it even."

"Bribed?"

"Compelled."

That made me smile. He gave me a toothy smile befitting a shark. "Do I really get to swim with it?"

"Yep," Damon smiled, pleased by my reaction.

"Can we go now?" I asked, eager to see the dolphin. I had never seen one before except through the glass of a local aquarium.

Taking my hand, Damon led me through the aquarium. He slowed as we passed the sharp tank. A great white shark was swimming idly near the glass. It was one of the most impressive and terrifying things I had ever seen. Even though I knew I was safe, I was still urged by a primal instinct to back away in terror. Only a few feet of glass separated me from what I knew would be a bloody and terrible death. The shark opened its gaping mouth revealing dozens of razor sharp teeth.

I resisted the urge to back away and bury my face in Damon's chest. I could hardly imagine how much he would make fun of me if I let on that I was scared of the shark in the aquarium. He would call me a baby! Telling myself to buck up, I mustered myself with the reassurance that Damon could at least help me run away from the shark if it got out.

"They make your fangs look like a joke," I teased, observing the size and ferocity of the monster before me.

"You think a shark could take me?" Damon said in a tone that made it quite clear he thought that was unlikely.

"It's enormous!" I protested. "I mean maybe in terms of speed you could take it but still!"

Damon concentrated for a moment, and his perfect features morphed into that of a monster. Paper thin red and purple veins spread along his cheekbones and underneath his eyes. The cerulean blue eyes that I loved to stare at turned blood red and finally his teeth elongated until he had what would better be described as fangs.

Turning to the shark, Damon growled, flashing plenty of fang in the process. When he took a threatening step forward, the shark took off like a rocket. The shark was afraid of Damon!

Looking far too smug, Damon said, "All animals including sea creatures are scared of vampires. We're super fast, strong, and vicious. Animals are designed to fear us. Not to mention, Stefan has spread our reputation as deadly hunters throughout the animal kingdom. One chipmunk gets away and suddenly every snake and mosquito knows that we aren't to be messed with."

All of the inanity in Damon's joke almost distracted me from the mention of Stefan. My heart gave a little twinge and I immediately felt guilty. It was wrong to think of another guy when on a date. Even worse when the other guy was your date's brother. Thoughts of Stefan were not appropriate. I had to let him go.

That made me pause. Let him go? I had never truly considered doing that. Thoughts of moving on had never occurred to me in the months since our breakup. Everything I did was simply because I could not wait for him forever. It did not mean I had not still been waiting though. Maybe I should just give up on Stefan. After all, he had made his own choices. He was an adult. If he didn't want to be with me that was his decision.

Finished with the shark, Damon continued to lead me towards the pool. After a series of lefts and rights we arrived at our destination.

"How deep is the water?" I questioned.

"Fifteen feet at the deep side, five at the shallow end," Damon answered.

I was relieved. In elementary school I had taken the necessary swimming lessons and had enjoyed lazy days of swimming in middle school, but it was still nice to be able to touch the bottom of the shallow end if I needed to rest. Not that I thought I was in any danger of drowning. Damon would save me.

Damon observed the Plexiglas wall that separated the dolphins from the pool. It was held closed by a lock. I worried that he would simply break it with his superhuman strength. I didn't want to hurt the dolphin enclosure.

"It looks like you need a key," I pointed out.

"Got one," Damon answered, pulling a key from his pocket and dangling it before me. "No time like the present to get started."

Without further ado, Damon pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor.

"Woah!" I cried out, covering my eyes with my hands.

"It's a bit late to become the blushing virgin," Damon commented, the sound of his trousers dropping audible in the quiet room.

I uncovered my eyes hesitantly. "What are you doing? I want dolphins, not…that!"

Damon rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not trying to fuck you. I have to get in the water to let the dolphin out. Wet denim jeans? Not comfortable."

He had a point, so I sheepishly nodded and looked away.

"If you want to play with the dolphin, you'll need to get in the water too," Damon goaded me.

Feeling a smidge irritable, I stripped down to my underwear. Damon was busy unlocking the segment of the "cage" for lack of a better word, but I could sense him studying me. The man could split his attention when a naked woman was involved like no other.

He dove underneath the water and swam into the cage out of sight. I sat down at the side of the pool and dipped a toe into the water. It was warm, a nearly perfect temperature. I considered the worst part of going for a swim the initial few minutes when you had to submerge yourself in water that felt a few degrees shy of comfortable. To get into water that wouldn't freeze my nipples off was a nice surprise.

I stood back up and made my way to the deep side of the pool. A number painted onto the cement indicated that it was about twenty feet deep. I bent my knees like I remembered being taught as a kid and propelled myself forward into the water. If I had to rank my dive on a scale of one to ten it would have been along the lines of a six. As I hit the water, I kicked one of my legs out and ruined the clean motion of the dive. Oh well, no one saw me anyway, and it had been a while since I had gone tried to dive anyway.

Kicking off the wall, I began to swim lazily back and forth through the water. There was something about swimming that even as it strained my muscles made my entire body relax. Everything felt more languid and relaxed in the water. Each time I let myself drift beneath the surface it felt like soothing tendrils were massaging my body.

"I brought someone to meet you," Damon's voice called from the other side of the pool.

I stopped my laps and turned around.

My jaw nearly dropped. Regardless, I was sure my expression resembled a child who had just been given the keys to Disney World. A sex addict at the Playboy mansion. A blue-blooded American male at a car show.

The creature before me radiated grace. Every slope and line was streamlined and designed to move easily through the water. It was the color of fog – a perfectly smooth gray throughout its body with no visible discoloration. It had intelligent black eyes that observed its surroundings easily and seemed to penetrate my very being. I knew I was getting disgustingly sappy over an animal but I could not force myself to care when actually faced with a real-live dolphin.

"We should name him," I breathed out in awe.

"What did you have in mind?" Damon asked, playing along though I was sure he could care less. "I know…Katherine has a nice ring to it."

My eyes narrowed, and I splashed a small wave of pool water in Damon's smarmy, self-satisfied face. The dolphin – who would _not_ be named Katherine – made an irritated clicking sound when it was doused in water.

"That is not even slightly funny," I hissed.

Damon slicked his wet hair back. I fought against the errant thought that he looked sinfully good with droplets of water sliding down his bare chest. Focus, Elena, you're annoyed, I chided myself.

"Ok, no Katherine. What do you think we should name him?" Damon queried, his expression mocking.

I grinned excited, "Okay, I have a few ideas. We could go the cutesy route and name him Chuckles."

"No."

"Okay, Howard."

"Stupid."

"Smoky."

"You're not taking this seriously."

"Dexter."

"Like the serial killer TV guy," Damon said snidely.

"No," I snapped, reaching my limit, "Like the cartoon scientist. Dexter's Laboratory. He seems smart so I thought Dexter would be appropriate."

"That…actually works," Damon conceded.

"Thank God," I sighed. "You can be a real pain in the ass you know."

"Hey! Watch your language around Dexter!" Damon laughed.

Well, it wasn't quite a laugh. Getting more than a non-committal chuckle and smirk from Damon was hard-work. Of course, he did laugh occasionally at his own jokes. The man thought he was hilarious.

"Do you want to touch him?" Damon asked.

"That is the stupidest thing you have ever said," was my only response.

With something similar to reverence, I approached Damon and Dexter. Damon was holding Dexter in place with one arm loosely hung around Dexter's torso area. Dex didn't seem to mind. Dex seemed right as rain. I wanted to keep Dexter forever and ever. It was like I had been transported back in time and I was a little girl again.

I remembered when I was a child telling my dad that I no longer supported the Cowboys. He had been horrified. No daughter of his would go turncoat on his favorite team! I informed him quite seriously that only boys liked cowboys, after all they were called cow_boys. _I was officially a supporter of the Miami Dolphins. Now there was a team and mascot that I could appreciate. They were even in Ace Ventura! That lasted about a year since my dad never let me watch a game. He couldn't possibly support my ridiculous team choice. In all honesty, I still felt a small degree of loyalty for the Dolphins and supported them quietly so that Jeremy wouldn't find out.

"The only thing I've ever seen you so in awe of is a tub of cookie dough," Damon remarked, "and maybe me naked."

"It's just so lovely. It is a boy right? We haven't misnamed Dexter. I don't want the other dolphins to make fun of him," I said. It was a joke but at the same time a tiny irrational part of me was concerned that we would somehow leave Dexter alone and gender confused when we left.

"He's a he," Damon confirmed. "Come on touch him."

Damon took my hand in his and placed it on Dexter's back. From looking at his skin, I was expecting Dexter to feel slippery even slimy. Instead, he was perfectly smooth. He was perfectly hairless. As I rubbed my hand down his back, I felt tiny indentations in his skin almost like ridges.

"He's so smooth!" I exclaimed.

Damon nodded in agreement, "Every few hours the entire top layer of skin is sloughed off. It feels smooth because it replaces old skin almost ten times faster than humans do. The skin is about ten times thicker than humans as well. Actually, the surface layer of skin is thicker than that of any land mammal."

"Why does it have these little bumps?" I asked, indicating the ridges.

"They're micro dermal ridges. They trap water molecules along the surface of the dolphin so that it can swim more easily through the water," Damon said in a very teachery voice. He could probably take Alaric's job. "They also have blubber."

"No they don't!" I protested. "Whales have blubber."

Damon gave me a 'poor, unknowledgeable Elena' look, "Whales and dolphins are both marine mammals. They both have blubber."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Why do you know so much about the anatomy of dolphins any way?"

"It was required I learn it," Damon answered evasively.

"When?" I asked sarcastically. "When you were a Confederate soldier?"

"No, when I was getting my Bachelors in Marine Biology from Columbia University," he said.

"You went to college? When I asked before you gave me snarky remark about having been on a college campus," I reminded him of when we had visited Bree's bar.

"Yep," Damon agreed, "I visited a college campus once or twice when I _attended_ college. I've always liked the ocean. I have gone out of my way to live by them over the years. I spent lots of time in the Caribbean, Australia, the Mediterranean. Well, the Mediterranean was a sea but you get the picture. It seemed like fun to get my degree, and I had nothing better to do at the time."

"But Colombia is an Ivy League school!"

Damon rolled his eyes, "I know. Don't tell me you thought I was stupid! I didn't even cheat my way into school. Well, I did forge some paperwork – birth records are a bitch when you were born before the Civil War. But, yeah, I took all the tests and everything"

"What year did you graduate?" I asked, getting into the conversation. It was fascinating.

"Class of 1984."

"Damon you have layers," I laughed. "I guess I always imagined you going town to town wreaking havoc, boozing, and working your way through the female population of the world. College just didn't seem like a part of that."

"I have done the whole havoc, booze, women thing. But you can't do that for over one hundred years straight. Sometimes you need something to keep your mind busy when you're a vampire. There aren't many challenges when you are at the top of the food chain. Well…there are challenges when you're involved. I haven't had as much trouble as you've given me in fifty some odd years," Damon said.

I nodded solemnly, "I'm a disaster magnet."

"It figures. The first person I decide deserves my protection in years can't walk three feet without some supernatural entity trying to kill her."

I waved my hand dismissively, "It's been months since anyone's tried to kill me. You scared them all away, you big strong man."

"Play with your damn dolphin," Damon growled, not amused by my faux-compliment.

I grinned at him cheekily and pecked him on the cheek. I could actually see his eyes soften as he forgave me. So I occasionally manipulated him into forgiving me. Who wouldn't? No one likes to be yelled at and it was so easy to bat my eyes a little bit and make him lighten up. I remembered when I used to be ingenuous. Ahh those lost days of innocence.

Taking Damon up on his suggestion, I returned my attention to Dexter. I slung my arm around the body of the dolphin and clutched him gently with my other. Rather abruptly, Dexter took off in the water. Before he submerged us fully, I managed to draw in a gasping breath of Oxygen.

For about a minute, I rode a dolphin. It was utterly surreal! My legs hung limply behind me, and I simply held on tight and enjoyed the ride. There was no chlorine in the water so I could gingerly open my eyes. There was some salt but it was still comfortable. Water rushed by and Dexter looked magnificent. He was in his element – wild and powerful.

I must have been weighing Dexter down a bit, because he quickly decided he wanted me off. In one elegant move, he twisted his body and performed a quick spin. It was enough to make me lose my grip and leave me alone and floating on my side in the water.

I splashed my way to the surface and spluttered indignantly, "He kicked me off!"

"He was protecting you. Neither of you have gills, sweetie. You would have needed to come up for air soon anyway," Damon reassured me.

With gentle hands, Damon brushed the hair that had become plastered to my forehead out of my face. Next, he rubbed his thumb under my eye, removing the makeup that had smudged there.

I let my hand slide into his hair and pulled him forward for a kiss. Our lips met and the exploding passion I always felt with Damon made me moan low in my throat. There was an edge of something unfamiliarly romantic in the kiss that I didn't quite recognize. The ever present urge to rip his clothes off was more manageable. I was able to enjoy the kiss without thinking about what could come after.

Damon's tongue gently probed my lips. I opened my mouth just enough to allow the tip of the hot muscle into my mouth. I clamped down with my lips around his invading tongue and sucked the hell out of it. Damon's eyes flew open and darkened with lust. They were more gray than blue now. Taking control, Damon wrestled his tongue out of my mouth and nipped my bottom lip hard.

The mood had changed. I was no longer content with a leisurely kiss. I wanted more. I wanted Damon – on me, inside of me, all of him.

If Dexter had not taken it upon himself to protest being ignored in that moment, Damon and I might have leapt upon each other in the middle of the pool. As it was, Dexter skyrocketed out of the water, flying six feet through the air in a perfect arc.

I all but knocked Damon across the pool in my haste to get him off of me. He groaned unhappily and tried to recapture my lips but I was having none of it. Pleased with the attention, Dexter swam up to me and squeaked happily.

"I just got cock blocked by a fish," Damon muttered grouchily.

"He's not a fish. He doesn't have gills as you so snottily pointed out earlier," I said.

"I'm not getting any right now am I?" Damon asked moodily.

"Nope," I answered lightly. "I have to entertain Dex."

We continued in that manner for another hour. It was heart breaking to say goodbye to Dexter when we left. I wanted to take him home with me. I could only imagine Jenna's face if I somehow overcame the logistical impossibilities and brought home a contraband dolphin. If I mentioned it to Damon he might even pull it off for me…

**A/N: This is my first chapter since chapter one without smut. Ahhh! But that's only because it's coming in the next chapter, which I already have outlined and partially written so…it shouldn't be as long of a wait this time! The date is not over. There's more romance, more smut, and something rather big in terms of their relationship coming up in the next chapter!**

**Review please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Yay, I actually finished a post in less than a month! Some warnings for this chapter: light bondage and blood play. I don't think there's anything too squicky but there is a lot of smut so if that isn't your thing (though I can't imagine why you would be reading my story if it wasn't) then stop after the first half of the chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

Damon's POV

The aquarium had been a truly inspired idea, I commended myself. Elena was curled up against my side as the limo wound its way through the streets of Atlanta. Her little hands were placed gently on my chest and her eyes were closed, though I knew she wasn't sleeping. There was only one more part of our date before we could finally retire to the hotel, which I was particularly looking forward to. It had been agonizing to watch Elena swim around in her underwear, to share those sweet embraces with her and know that I had to wait countless hours more until I could relieve the tension. At least I could console myself with the knowledge that anticipation only makes things sweeter.

"I really want to know where you got these clothes," Elena mumbled without opening her eyes. "Come on, you can tell me."

Unwilling to ruin either of our formal attire by putting them on over our wet bodies, I had compelled a couple right out of their breeches. Yeah, there was now a couple walking around the aquarium with nothing hiding their secrets but their underwear, but that wasn't my problem. Of course, I was not telling Elena that. She'd probably demand we turn the limo around and return the clothes. Really, I was doing the strangers a favor. Matching baggy college sweatshirts? They weren't even in college. Adults should not go on dates in their college wear and women should not wear sweatpants on a date either. To me these were just a given.

"I can't tell you all of my secrets. I don't want to lose all of my mystery," I finally answered after briefly debating the merits of outright lying.

Elena snorted, "Yeah, you are sooo sexy and mysterious.

I frowned, my eyebrows contracting with the movement. That wasn't overly flattering.

"Do you want the rest of your date or not?" I taunted Elena.

"Does it involve food, because I'm starved," Elena said, placing a hand on her stomach to emphasize her hunger.

"I have a picnic basket full of delicious goodies for you to eat at the next place," I said. "You also might want to put your dress back on. You should be dry and I refuse for either of us to be seen dressed like this."

Elena snickered, "I can't. I'm still too busy imagining you packing a picnic basket. Were you wearing an apron at the time?"

"You know I can cook. You've all but orgasmed after eating my cooking, so don't even go there, cupcake," I said.

Elena shrugged as if that didn't warrant a response and began to remove her borrowed clothes. I smiled proudly as I watched her. This confidence with her body was new and entirely of my making. When our quasi-relationship first started Elena would not walk downstairs without a sheet to hide her nudity from the emptiness of the boardinghouse. Now, she was absentmindedly removing her clothes when I and potentially the driver (if he were to take down the divider) could see her. I was responsible for her sexual awakening.

"Pass me my jacket," I commanded, motioning to the bundle of material on the floor.

Elena immediately bent to retrieve it and passed it to me before smoothing out the straps of her dress. I winced when I inspected the jacket. I should probably have taken a little more care to avoid wrinkles, but it could have been worse.

The car slowed to a halt just as I straightened the jacket into place. The chauffer opened the door and revealed our destination. We were at the foot of a mountain about 1,686 feet tall. Three men on horseback were carved into the side of the mountain. About a hundred people were sprawled out on a spacious stretch of grass facing the mountain. Many had picnic baskets like us.

"What is this?" Elena wondered aloud.

"Stone Mountain," I responded. "It's a Civil War monument, though it's pretty specifically in honor of the Confederate side. The figures on the mountain are Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson."

"I'm not really into supporting the Confederacy…I like the Union," Elena stuttered uncomfortably.

I rolled my eyes exasperatedly, "Not everyone here is some Confederate supporter, Elena. It's a piece of history."

"Okay, well, what do we…do exactly?" Elena asked, "Stare at the mountain?"

"They do a laser show reflecting off the surface of the mountain."

The flash of excitement that crossed Elena's face was incredibly rewarding. I would climb the mountain before me if I thought it would give Elena a moment of pleasure. Though, I could think of a dozen far better ways to bring her pleasure.

I laid a blanket out for us and set out the food. The contents of the basket were rather impressive – two bottles of wine (one filled with blood that I would take care not to accidentally mix with Elena's drink), a pitcher of orange juice in case Elena was thirsty for something sweeter, spinach salad, blueberries, kiwi, and macadamia nut cookies. It was a tad too girly for my taste, but it's not like I needed food to sustain myself. All of this effort was for Elena.

"Where's the roasted duck?" Elena demanded, hand on her hip and a teasing smirk on her lips.

I raised an eyebrow. It would have been difficult to drive a duck to Georgia. Was she being purposefully unreasonable?

"Well, all my other favorites are here. The blueberries, spinach, and cookies are my favorites. I thought you'd whip out a duck next," Elena said with a sincere smile.

I smiled right back at her, "The salad even has chunks of goat cheese like I know you enjoy."

"Yummy! Though I don't know how you expect me to eat all of this," Elena said with an appraising glance at the array of food.

"You're the one who said she was hungry," I pointed out.

"Hungry, yes," Elena agreed, "But I'm a teenage girl. We can't eat anything without feeling the proper pangs of guilt and self reproach. Chocolate more than three times a week nearly throws me over the edge of despair."

"You're too skinny as it is," I said, "Now eat."

"You think I'm too skinny?" Elena asked, the teasing was completely gone from her voice and replaced by a tone made up of one part fury and one part insecurity.

I gave an internal groan. Way to put my foot in my mouth! The only thing worse would be to tell her she was fat! It just tore me up to think she worried about something like that. As if Elena could be anything but stunningly beautiful.

Trying to put that thought into words I said, "I think you're perfect and sexy as hell. You don't need to worry about how much chocolate you eat."

"Well if I ate all that chocolate, I would no longer be the same and if the same is perfect, well…you know what I mean! If I'm the right weight now, I can't risk becoming the wrong weight," Elena explained.

I decided then and there to give up. In the age of waifish supermodels, I had zero chance of getting through to a teenage girl that anything from tiny to voluptuous could be considered beautiful. Honestly, there was such a range of sizes that a man could consider sexy. Why women thought there was a set size that they had to fit was beyond him.

Apparently over our brief argument, Elena started to nibble on the various food items while watching the crowd of people sitting on the lawn. The speakerphones on the lawn were pumping out songs by artists from Georgia. 'Love Shack' by the B-52's came on, and Elena shot up onto her knees.

"I _love_ this song! Bonnie, Caroline, and I would listen to it on the way to school last year every day. That was back when only Bonnie had a car. Well, actually, Caroline did have a car but she failed her driver's test the first few times and couldn't drive. It wasn't her fault really, she is just a horrible parallel parker, and it's not like you have many reasons to park in small town, Virginia," Elena informed me.

"It's a little old place where we can get together," I sang along to the music in a mock falsetto.

Elena giggled and kissed me on the mouth, molding our lips together for only a few seconds. She pulled back, and we continued to listen to the song as we ate.

"What do they say there?" I asked as one of the B-52's let out a noise resembling a cattle call. "I've always wondered."

"Oh my God! Caroline and I had to look this up online!" Elena exclaimed. "They say, and I'm not kidding 'Tin Roof! Rusted.'"

I took a brief second to contemplate where all of this girlish excitement in Elena was coming from. She was rarely this excitable or prone to exclamations and giggling. Was this who she truly was? Was this a part of her that had been hidden away following her parents' death and was now beginning to resurface?

"Really? The Love Shack's older than I realized if it has let itself get so rusted. It's probably a health code violation," I smirked.

Elena smiled pleasantly, "Love shacks aren't even legal in most Southern states. They have laws about places where people can… 'Get together'."

"Do you know that oral sex is illegal in South Carolina?" I asked, flaunting my admittedly obscure and pointless knowledge of outdated state laws that the legislatures had never gotten around to rescinding.

"That would suck! What kind of men, of all people, would make a law like that?" Elena asked shocked.

I could understand her confusion. I would rather swim in the Arctic Ocean in the middle of winter than permanently forgo blow jobs. A man would have to be entirely unable to perform to want that.

"My best guess is that their wives were too frigid to even know that you can use your tongue on it. Bitter, the bastard Congressmen decided to punish everyone else that were getting lucky," I hypothesized.

Elena snorted. She really had a bad habit of that.

"So it had nothing to do with their religious beliefs," Elena said dubiously.

"Elena," I said shaking my head. "When have politicians ever actually believed in the family values they support?"

"You may have a point," Elena conceded, "I think the show is starting."

We both turned our eyes upon the mountain. Neon streams of light were dancing along the mountain, casting the austere faces of the old Confederate generals in shades of red and green. Slowly, the colors came together and began to manifest into cartoon animals. Animated figures danced and played soundlessly, fascinating not in their antics but in how insubstantial they were and their color.

I picked up the bloodless bottle of wine and poured two glasses. It was fascinating to watch the deep red liquid pour in a seemingly endless stream. It was so similar in terms of color to blood. Perhaps it varied slightly, but for the most part wine reflected the color of blood before it faced the oxidization of open air and turned that unappetizing dull brown. The main differences between blood and wine were consistency and taste.

When tasting a wine, it was a compliment to call it smooth. Everyone wanted something that would go down easily, gliding sensuously across the palette. Blood was anything but smooth. Blood was thick and difficult to swallow. It was invasive and seemed to still linger in the back of one's throat after swallowing. Wine tasted sweet or bitter, a million different descriptions for one brief moment where the taste buds recognized that a new substance had invaded the mouth. Blood tasted of copper, of metal. What made blood delectable was not taste but what went with it. That rush of strength invigorating the long dead muscles of my body. Every nerve electrified, sending tingles of pleasure rushing down my spine. All of the neurons in my brain firing, reminding me of good memories and sensations – the adrenaline rush of diving off a mountain into the foaming ocean, the heart-stopping moment of reaching one's sexual peak, greeting a missed friend, chocolate, love. Was it any wonder that so many vampires were willing to kill for one more taste?

"You know you're kind of creepy," Elena commented, breaking me from me reverie.

"What?" I questioned surprised. She could not possibly have sensed the direction my thoughts had taken.

"You a – at least in the public eye – single guy in his late twenties take your little brother's ex-girlfriend out of state and away from her guardian where you continue to seduce her with alcohol in the hopes to have your wicked way with her," Elena summarized.

"Add that I'm really a one hundred sixty-nine year old vampire that wants to drink your blood and it gets even creepier," I said, motioning to her glass.

"Very creepy," Elena agreed, accepting the proffered drink. "Let's make a toast."

"To what?"

"I always drink to world peace," Elena said haughtily.

"Groundhog's Day reference?"

"You bet!" Elena grinned.

"Let's drink to the continuation of our beautiful friendship and to the good people of Atlanta," I suggested.

"And to the hopes that no mean vampires bother us ever again," Elena added.

I made a derisive sound, "We can drink to it but it doesn't mean it will happen. Not with your luck, anyway."

Elena stuck her tongue out childishly, "Have a little faith."

"Okay," I said, lifting my glass. "To good friends with benefits, the citizens of Georgia, and to no bad supernatural beings of any kind."

"Amen," Elena said before downing her drink in three powerful gulps.

"Seriously, don't get too drunk tonight," I warned. "It's funny to joke about, but I don't actually want to be the jerk taking advantage of you."

"Shut up and watch the show," Elena ordered affectionately.

She crawled forward and settled herself to sit on my lap. I wrapped my arms around her torso and held her securely against my chest. In silence, we watched the remainder of the laser show.

Two hours later, we were in the hotel elevator, waiting as the elevator slowly crawled its way to the penthouse floor at the top.

"So, was there any point to dressing up? We never went anywhere fancy," Elena wondered.

"There was a very good point," I said, letting my hand glide across the satiny fabric at her waist. "First, I look devastating in a suit."

Elena nodded thoughtfully, "I did enjoy the whole effect. It's very sexy." Her hand wandered lazily down my chest, playing idly with the end of my tie.

"Mmhmm," I cooed. "And you look stunning. I just wanted the chance to see you all dressed up for me."

"I meet your approval?" Elena asked, an eyebrow arched playfully.

"You exceed my highest expectations," I answered charmingly.

Elena pulled me closer to her by my tie and wound her fingers in my hair. More than happy to follow her lead, I let her pull me in for a domineering kiss. Her tongue pushed forcefully past the barrier of my lips and began to devour me whole. She was ferocious and all the while was pulling my hair and scratching at my scalp.

Deciding my arms were doing neither of us any good hanging limply by my sides, I reached down to cup her ass and pull her forwards. She fell against the hard lines of my body, and my burgeoning erection registered that it was happy in its position pressed against her stomach. Of course, it would feel even better if I were to just lift her up a few inches and –

The elevator dinged as it stopped to pick up more passengers on our ascent upwards. Elena all but leaped across the elevator in her haste to get away from me. A family joined us in the elevator – mother, father, teenage son, and grandma all piling into the now crowded little box.

Unfortunately, Elena had left me with a little problem when she had decided to hide on the other side of the elevator. There was no way for me to possibly cover my arousal, and I noted that the family was beginning to take notice.

I wasn't usually easily embarrassed but there was something about the elderly that always put the fear of God in me. I remembered being taught to be deferential to my elders. Being hard while standing next to a seventy-five year old woman made me cringe. Not cool.

"Elena," I said quietly, "Come here."

Elena seemed somewhat confused but walked over to stand beside me. Without giving her a moment to realize what was happening, I tugged her into my arms and positioned her body in front of mine. There, that was much better.

That was until Elena arched backwards so that she just ever so slightly brushed against my cock. Decades of self control were the only thing that stopped me from emitting a humiliating groan. As it was, I had to press my lips tightly together and grit my teeth.

"What are you doing?" I hissed in her ear.

"Nothing," Elena said innocently. I rolled my eyes as she batted her eyes exaggeratedly. She was really a little brat sometimes.

With a fiendish grin shot at me over her shoulder, Elena reached her hand between our bodies and caressed my thigh. I swallowed powerfully, my Adam's apple bobbing. She didn't stop her movements, and slowly slid the heel of her hand upwards towards my most sensitive place. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she scratched her nails against the crotch of my jeans. Even through the thick layer of denim I could feel her as if I was naked.

The mother in the elevator with us cleared her throat uncomfortably. Her son seemed to be fascinated and stared, riveted, at where Elena's hand had disappeared between our bodies. When had Elena become a fucking exhibitionist? It's not that I was against letting the voyeurs of the world have a peep show. I was just against letting horny teenage boys sexualize Elena.

"Enough," I said, gripping her wrists and pulling her tightly against me in order to incapacitate her.

Unfortunately, that put her in a position to rub even more tantalizingly against my body. I was holding her arms crossed and locked in front of her, and my arms were just touching her heaving breasts.

This did not make sense! I knew Elena had to be feeling terribly embarrassed at the moment. She was probably pink with her forwardness. The thought only heightened my arousal. I enjoyed her embarrassment and the rush of blood to her face it triggered.

Elena turned her head slightly so that she could make eye contact. My eyes lingered for a moment on the elegant slope of her throat and the gentle pulse of her artery that I could only just detect with my supernatural vision. Our eyes met and I found myself entirely unable to look away. She was daring me, her eyes a declaration that she would match me at every turn. Our every kiss would be a battle.

"I won't stop," Elena murmured seductively. Her every breath puffed across the small distance between us and danced across my face. "Because I'm in charge."

Her dominant declaration made me growl instinctively. It was probably for the best that the elevator stopped at the family's destination at that moment because my control had just been shredded. Within seconds of the family hurrying out of the elevator, I had pushed Elena roughly against the wall. She expelled an unsteady breath but still looked up at me with the same stubborn defiance. Her neck was extended beautifully, the bones of her clavicle pronounced.

"Who's in charge?" I snarled.

"I am," Elena said, but her voice was breathless and excited.

I stalked closer, caging her in with the weight of my body. "You can't _really _think you are in charge here. You're like a lovely little blue bird. You can screech at me all you want but your claws aren't sharp enough to cut.

"Now is not the time for metaphors," Elena said testily. "Really, I'm seconds away from fucking you till you pass out."

I shook my head and grinned darkly, "You won't be fucking me, little bluebird. I will be the one to tie you up and fuck you until you can't walk properly."

"Don't be crude," Elena hissed, her hand gripping the front of my shirt.

"Yes, because you were acting the prude earlier. You all but tried to give me a hand job in front of a little old lady. No, I'm not the crude one here, little whore."

"I think I prefer blue bird," Elena snapped back. It would have been impossible to miss how her eyes darkened slightly after hearing my demeaning words. She was as turned on by our power struggle as I was.

"I don't think you do. I think you like it when I call you a whore. You want to be used and degraded," I said, my tongue flicking gently against the shell of her ear.

Elena shook her head, "Actually, I like the idea of using and degrading _you_."

Finally, after what had to be the longest and most sexually charged elevator ride in history, the chime dinged and the doors opened to reveal the penthouse I had booked. When I imagined this moment, I had imagined allowing Elena minutes to walk through each room, admiring the elegance and splendor I had provided. Instead, I roughly shoved her towards the bedroom with the intent to devour her. It was funny how the best intentions could be convoluted.

The moment we had crossed into the bedroom, I was twisting our bodies into a perverted embrace. Elena was pressed hard against the door, not a breadth of space between our bodies, her hands pinned above her head.

I moved forward with the elegance of a predator and swooped down to capture her in a searing kiss. She opened her mouth immediately, and we both went on the attack. Tongues, slick and wet, tangled together, darted in and out without any apparent rhythm. We were trying to take the other by surprise in order to win the battle.

"Submit to me," I ordered, nipping her bottom lip hard enough to make her whimper.

"You can't make me," Elena said. "By holding my hands down you tie your own. We are at a stalemate."

My eyes glinted with an idea. Whether meant literally or figuratively, her words offered up an interesting suggestion. I released her hands, reluctant to give up my power for even a moment and moved towards the linen closet.

"What are you doing?" Elena demanded. "You are not just walking away right now."

I smirked darkly, "Don't worry. I will take care of your needs yet." Reaching the closet, I opened the door and pulled out a sheet. Never taking my eyes off Elena, I ripped the sheet into strips.

"I don't know what you think you are doing with those," Elena said, eyeing the strips of fabric.

There was one moment where I studied her intently. I was entirely focused on finding a sign that she genuinely feared what was about to come. If she made it clear that she was not comfortable, I would back off and apologize. Instead of fear, however, her eyes suggested a low burning desire.

I chuckled darkly, "You don't really need to ask what I plan to do with these do you? If you must ask, I plan to tie you up and make you come so many times your head spins."

"I'm actually having a hard time figuring out what's wrong with that," Elena smirked. "You have to know I'm not going down without a fight though."

"If you weren't going to try to run, what would be the point of binding you up?" I said, swinging the ties about in a loose circle.

Elena darted suddenly to the side, hoping to get past me and to the bathroom on the other side of the room. With an effortless motion to the side, I blocked her exit and inched somewhat closer to her quivering body.

We both froze, a mere yard separating us. Elena's eyes flickered toward the bathroom door again. A tensing of her muscles and the angle of her body, however, gave her away. She was merely feinting that she would go for the bathroom. Instead, her body language revealed that she would try to escape through the exit of the bedroom behind her.

Sure enough, moments later, Elena whirled around to try to escape the room. Her hand had not even connected with the door knob before I grabbed her. I lifted Elena clear off her feet and twirled her around so that her back was pressed against the door. Employing my supernatural speed, I wrapped the ties tightly about her wrists, binding them together. The other end of the ties was quickly knotted to a coat hook hanging high on the door.

"So you caught me," Elena said gasping. "What now?"

In response, I moved forward so that I was crowding her body against the wall. Maintaining eye contact, I easily ripped the left sleeve of her dress. Elena gasped in outrage and stared up at me with unconcealed indignation. Smirking, I ripped the right side of her dress in the same manner. No longer held to her body, the dress slid downward to pool at her feet.

I ran my hand across the bare expanse of her stomach. I could feel the strong muscles of her abdomen beneath the perfectly flat skin of her midriff. Tiny goose bumps rose wherever my fingers touched. So I continued to touch her skin just to see her body's physical reaction to my exploration.

With a deft maneuver of my fingers, I unhooked her bra. Since her arms were tied above her head, I had to rip the fabric that connected the straps to the lacy cups of her bra. Elena seemed considerably less appalled by this mutilation of her clothing than that of her dress. Either she was too turned on to care or the dress was simply more valuable in her eyes.

I caressed the undersides of her breasts, cupping them as if to test their weight. Elena mewled quietly – a restrained noise that suggested she was trying to hold in her sounds of pleasure. I wanted nothing more than to make her lose all remnants of composure and make her scream at my attentions to her breasts alone.

With that goal in mind, I lowered my head to capture one ruddy, peaked nipple in my mouth. I laved the tiny bud with my tongue, making it glisten with saliva. Then, I sucked passionately with my lips wrapped tightly around her nipple, sucking the wetness off.

I pulled my head back and laid it against her breasts. From that position, I could hear Elena's heartbeat frantically thumping from within her chest. It was gratifying to listen to her heart accelerate.

To my consternation, I noticed that the nipple I had so far neglected was still soft. Annoyed, I pinched it with my fingers. Yet, it only pointed slightly at the tip rather than fully pebbling. Stubborn woman with a stubborn nipple, I mused.

I captured the recalcitrant nipple with my lips and sucked powerfully. Elena gasped loudly, probably somewhat pained at the assault on her sensitive flesh. I caught her nipple with my teeth and tugged it gently away from her body. I could have sworn Elena stopped breathing in that moment. Her arms were straining against the bonds with the urge to cradle me closer to her breast. Gently nipping as I went, I pulled my head away from her tits. Finally, I watched the blood flow and gather in her nipple, causing it to engorge and pebble before my eyes.

Elena panted and leaned more heavily against the door. "Damon, please. I need you," she moaned.

I sank to my knees, studying the flesh at eye level. Elena watched me with heavy-lidded eyes, eagerly anticipating my next move. Hooking my thumbs in the sides of her lace panties, I dragged them down her tan legs. Obediently, Elena lifted her legs, letting me remove them easily.

"Thanks for letting me have one piece of clothing you haven't completely destroyed," Elena said dryly if a bit breathlessly.

Smirking, I held her panties up so she could see them and ripped them clean in two.

"I should have kept my mouth shut," Elena said with an eyeroll. "I forgot what a horrible bastard you are."

"What can I say?" I shrugged. "When you're bad you're bad."

With a firm grip, I spread her thighs into a 'v.' I pushed them just far enough that her muscles would strain slightly without crossing over the threshold from uncomfortable to painful. If it were not for the guarantee that Elena would never speak to me again, I would grab a camera and take a picture. She had never looked as thoroughly debauched or as lovely. Entirely naked, hands bound, and open to my hungry perusal, Elena looked like a virgin sacrifice waiting to be ravished.

I trailed my tongue languidly along the inside of her left thigh, creeping slowly closer to the crease where her thigh met her greatest treasure. My tongue danced downward again, teasing Elena into a mild frenzy. Her thighs began to shake with prolonged need. I inched upwards and blew a gust of warm breath against her clit, and Elena sighed in anticipation of my tongue finally making contact with her pussy.

Feeling devious, I moved to her other thigh and began the entire process again. Elena groaned in sexual frustration. If her hands were not tied, Elena would have forcibly pulled my head to where she wanted it.

After a few minutes, during which Elena had become increasingly creative with the curse words she was throwing at me, I decided to take pity on my date. I ran my tongue up her slit, eliciting a galvanic reaction from Elena. She shrieked like a thing possessed and bucked her hips forward, straining against her ties.

I tugged one of the lips of her labia into the warmth of my mouth. Releasing it, I delved deeper into her cunt. I gripped the curve of her ass and tilted her hips upward for easier access.

I lapped beneath her entrance with my tongue. Streams of tart fluid dropped onto my extended tongue. Some of her wetness had gathered on her thighs, so I bent to lick her thighs again so as not to waste her precious essence.

"Goddamnit Damon! You are not doing this again! Please, I am begging you," Elena howled.

I pulled back from her entirely and tapped my fingers to my chin as if thinking. "I don't know. I am enjoying how delightfully desperate you are getting."

"Do you want me to beg?" Elena asked hopefully. "Because I will. I need you, Damon. I need you so bad. Please, please, please take care of me."

"How?"

"Your lips on my clit!" Elena suggested excitedly.

I shook my head, "You will come in five seconds if I do that."

"That's kind of why I suggested it. But whatever you want. Just please don't stop touching me," Elena pleaded.

It was sexy to hear her begging. On a deeper level, however, what really got me was the thing she could do with her eyes. They were so earnest that I caved regardless of whether we were arguing over vampire drama or orgasms.

Finally acquiescing to what she wanted, I aligned two of my fingers with her entrance and drove them into her dripping pussy. Elena's eyes fluttered closed in rapture. I kept my fingers still, simply feeling how hot she was.

"Fuck yourself on my fingers," I ordered.

Elena obeyed without hesitation. She angled her hips downward and began to shift her hips up and down. I slipped a third finger in as she moved downwards and her answering moan was the most husky noise I had ever heard emerge from Elena's mouth.

I captured her clit with my mouth and finally applied the pressure she had been longing for. I stilled her hips and started to do the work with my fingers as well. I couldn't have her shifting her weight if I wanted to control the pressure on her clitoris. I applied the gentlest pleasure to her clit while thrusting rapidly inside her pussy with my fingers.

After less than a minute, Elena's pussy walls started to clamp down around my fingers with the onset of her orgasm. I increased the pressure on her clit, all but biting the sensitive nub. It had to have hurt her but it served to increase the intensity and length of her orgasm so she probably did not mind too much. After a full two minutes of moaning and wailing at the top of her lungs, Elena finally quieted as the last waves of her orgasm subsided.

I licked my fingers clean, savoring that last taste of her juices before rising from my kneeling position. I removed the ties from the door hook and pulled apart the ties around Elena's hands. I touched her wrist tenderly, examining the light red mark left from being bound for so long. It was nothing serious, but I gave her a light kiss on her inner wrist anyway.

Now that the ties were no longer holding her up, Elena had lost any semblance of balance. She stood in a crouch, slumped against the wall. I pulled her forward and cradled her in my arms. I kissed her pouting lips to which she responded weakly. I hoped Elena recovered from her post-orgasm haze soon, because I was feeling uncomfortably aroused.

I lifted her up and into my arms and carried her to the plush king sized bed. I loved the beds in expensive hotels. I liked the high thread count on the sheets, the mountain of pillows, the firmness of the mattress, and, most of all, that it wasn't my job to clean the sheets in the morning. I placed Elena gently in the center of the wonderful bed and draped a sheet over her nude body.

"Ughskg nakd takoo," Elena mumbled.

I quirked an eyebrow in amusement, "What kind of Spanish are they teaching you high school kids these days? I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"You should be naked too," Elena said in a more forceful voice.

"You couldn't be more perfect," I said lowly.

I shrugged off my jacket and placed it on a chair beside the bed. My shirt and pants quickly followed suit. I kicked off my shoes and socks and dropped my boxers to the ground without a second thought. I crawled beneath the sheets, nestling my body to fit comfortably against Elena's small form. My erection was like a steel rod and rested against the swell of her hip.

Elena's soft hand closed around my cock. She rolled over to more comfortably face me, and she began to slide her hand up and down. We kissed leisurely, her tongue cheekily playing with mine. She would dart her tongue into my mouth to tangle with my tongue briefly, before drawing me back into her own mouth.

I licked her lips, savoring her flavor. She tasted good enough to eat. It was actually hard to believe how good she tasted. I could still detect the wine from earlier and, if I wasn't mistaken, an orange creamsicle!

"You taste like an orange," I said, breaking our kiss. "How is that even possible?"

Elena looked at me bemused. "Um…chap stick."

"You should wear it more often. It makes me want to gobble you up," I said, recapturing her mouth.

I sucked feverishly at her lower lip, sucking the chap stick off. Elena started to pump her hand faster, making me gasp at the delightful friction. After a few minutes, however, her hand stopped moving all together and she took her hand off my cock.

With one hand cupping my cheek gently, Elena stared up at me with an expression I had never seen before. Her eyes were heavy lidded but still practically glowing with affection and acceptance. This was a face that until now I could almost guarantee had been reserved for Stefan.

"I want you to drink from me," Elena whispered, her voice soft and velvety.

So this is what heaven feels like, I mused. Elena Gilbert, the girl I loved, was offering her body and soul to me. I suddenly felt like a schmuck. My hands started to sweat like a teenager, and all I could do was stare in awe at the girl in bed with me.

"Elena," I said hoarsely. "Are you sure about this? Because this is the only time I'm going to ask."

"I wouldn't offer if it wasn't something I wanted," Elena reassured me.

I kissed her again, running my hands through her silky hair. There was no need to have a long drawn out conversation on the merits of blood sharing. We had already discussed it that time during her lunch break. If she was ready, I was not going to be a pussy or, God forbid, a Stefan and worry about the consequences.

I ran my hands down the sides of her body, worshipping her curves with gentle caresses. I ground my cock against her clit a few times, making her pant heavily into my mouth. I reached a hand in between us to hold my cock and then placed it at her entrance. With almost superhuman control, I sank inch by inch into her pussy. Elena rocked her hips impatiently, desperate for me to be fully seated inside her, but I kept at my pace. After a minute of gentle rocking, I finally sank completely into her depths.

I pulled out partially and then sank back in, keeping the pace slow and controlled. Elena moved her hips in tandem, meeting each thrust perfectly. Our bodies were locked in more than one place as we continued to kiss ravenously. All of the aggression that was absent from our lower bodies' coupling was being forced over into the kiss.

Elena bit my lip fiercely and tugged it away from my face. When she released it, a drop of blood was left on her lips – my blood. The sight of her with blood on her mouth did strange things to me. It was so unbelievably sexy.

My hips snapped forward harshly of their own accord, destroying the careful pace I had cultivated. I gripped her hips hard enough to leave bruises, pulling her body upwards to meet mine as I began to thrust desperately inside her. Elena moaned loudly, clearly having no problems with my rough treatment. I really could not help myself when it came to her. She was simply so wet and tight and the frantic noises she made were enough to fell even the strongest man.

From her frenzied cries, I could tell Elena was quickly approaching the height of her pleasure. There was no stopping the approach of my own orgasm either. I could feel my balls tightening and that indescribable pleasure bordering on pain rushing through my lower body.

Excited, I allowed my fangs to elongate. In one clean movement, I pierced the fragile skin of Elena's neck. Blood bubbled out of the wound and into my eagerly awaiting mouth. I was brought back to my recollections on blood earlier and about how it was the most amazing thing in the world. I openly admitted I was wrong. Elena's blood was the most delectable thing in the universe.

It was not a matter of taste. The intimacy I felt in that moment was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Not to sound corny but it was almost like a merging of two souls…I rolled my eyes internally. Okay, there was no way for that not to sound corny, I take it back. I was, however, more aware than I ever had been that Elena was perfect. That she was _mine _was merely the icing on a very delicious cake.

I sucked deeply at the wound, taking another swill of her blood. Elena moaned heavily as if the act was increasing her pleasure. Of course, it was entirely possible. Many actually enjoyed a vampire bite when it was administered for pleasure. It was not a guarantee; there were some humans that loathed the act regardless, but others found it arousing. Elena was evidently one of those people.

Elena catapulted into her orgasm. She screamed as if faced with the devil himself – a very handsome devil. I was happy that we had a floor to ourselves or we would have inevitably received noise complaints. Her walls clenched around my member like a vice, and I groaned at the added friction. Her nails dug into my back and she held herself tightly to my body.

I began to drink somewhat less deeply, aware that I could potentially take too much and hurt her. After a few more thrusts, I came myself, exploding deeply inside her womb. The amount of cum I released was actually incredible considering all of the fucking we had already done earlier in the day.

I collapsed on top of her tiny body, barely managing to distribute my weight onto my arms so as not to hurt her. Gently, I pulled my fangs from her neck. Studying the wound, I was rather impressed by how clean a bite it was. There would be a bruise, but there was no tearing and it would be fairly minor on the scale of vampire injuries.

"You never stop surprising me," Elena said softly.

"How so?" I asked, stretching languorously. I was still on a high from all of the blood and sex.

"Well, I never would have thought you'd be such a good boyfriend," Elena murmured, her eyes already closed in preparation for sleep.

My entire body froze. My mind stopped functioning. All I could think was one loaded word that had not been seriously used in relation to me ever.

_Boyfriend_?


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Yay another chapter written! More plot than smut but this story is slowly shifting out of the PWP category and getting some actual substance. I only hope I can pull that off as well as the lemons.**

**Lately, I've been feeling like I could use a beta. It is getting harder for me to edit my own work especially in the longer chapters and particularly because I often write parts of the chapter out of order. More than just the grammatical aspects, I would like someone who would give me feedback on the chapter overall, the character development, plot, etc. If anyone is interested or knows someone who would be, leave a review or PM me please. Thank you! Now on with the show!**

Elena's POV:

My body was being caressed by the loveliest Egyptian cotton ever sewn into a sheet. The blanket was tangled with my legs and my pillow could not have been a better combination of soft and firm. I was in heaven.

It was to these pleasant sensations that I began to wake up from a night of dreamless sleep. Even before I opened my eyes, the memories of the previous day were already front and center in my mind. Damon had been so perfect. The passionate sex the night before had been our best sex to date and that was saying something considering our entire relationship was built on mind blowing sex. What meant even more was how thoughtful and tender Damon had proven himself to be.

Happy that there was still breakfast and the car ride back to look forward to, I rolled my arm out, seeking Damon's body. I flailed my arms around a bit looking for him, before I realized that the bed was empty. I sat up and looked around. Sure enough, I was in the giant bed by myself.

Pouting slightly, I rolled off the bed and onto my feet. I walked to the vanity across the room and checked my reflection. I looked thoroughly fucked in the best of ways. I had so many love bites on my neck and chest that I could pass as a Dalmatian. There were small bruises and scratches but nothing that hurt. My hair was a complete mess, and I berated myself for not thinking to bring a straightener with me.

The quiet hum of a voice drifted into the bedroom from the adjoining sitting room. I went into the bathroom and grabbed a plush robe from the hooks. Wrapping myself in the robe and tying it loosely, I walked into the sitting room to see who Damon was talking to.

Glancing around the sitting area, I could not help but smile. His choice of hotel was truly considerate. It was not an overly posh or fancy hotel that would only make me uncomfortable in my surroundings. Rather, the room was clean and minimalistic with a few homey touches that made it more welcoming. In the fashion of shabby chic, most of the furniture was white, but it was still somehow warm and inviting. Instead of a glass coffee table, it was made out of a warm, red oak, rather than flowers there was an autumnal wreath hanging from the wall.

Damon was sitting on a backless white stool masquerading as a chair. Or maybe it was an ottoman? It was difficult to tell. He had a cell phone perched against his ear and he seemed aggravated.

Feeling frisky, I dropped my robe and walked over to stand behind him. I rubbed his shoulders in a gentle massage, wanting to relieve the tension in his body. Damon barely reacted, so I leaned forward to press a sensual kiss against the side of his neck. As if I were a bothersome gnat, Damon shrugged his shoulders in a dismissive motion.

I couldn't help but pout at the rejection and moved to sit on the couch while I waited for his phone call to end. Memo to myself, I thought snidely, don't interrupt him when he's on the phone. After a few extremely boring minutes, Damon finally lowered his cell phone indicating the end of his call.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked curiously. Whoever it was, they had apparently made him less than happy with whatever they had to say.

"No one important," Damon responded shortly.

He seemed so much colder than he had just the night before. Actually, any behavior he exhibited today would appear cold compared to the unbelievable passion of the night before. Maybe I was holding him to too high a standard.

"Do you want to come back to bed? I'm lonely," I said, suggesting the one subject we would both always agree on.

Damon nodded and said, "Sure."

Taking my hand, he led us back into the bedroom. Inside, I lay down on the bed while Damon went to work removing his clothes. Once he was finished, Damon crawled onto the bed, blanketing my body with his. His hands trailed down my sides, rubbing circles into my ticklish skin. My eyes drifted closed as I surrendered to the complete mastery he had over my body.

His fingers quickly found my most sensitive flesh, and he expertly tugged at my clit. He stuck a finger into my pussy, collecting the wetness that was just beginning to gather there. He removed his finger and went back to rubbing my clitoris, now aided by the new slickness on his forefinger. The little bud began to swell as my lust increased exponentially.

I lifted my head in an effort to pull him into a kiss. Before I could make contact, however, his lips latched onto the side of my neck, nibbling and licking the column of skin. A brief pang of doubt went through me at how he had avoided kissing me. I quickly dispelled the notion as his attentions to my neck and clit were clouding my mind.

I admired the hard muscles of his torso, stroking his pectorals with soft hands. His body never ceased to amaze me, and I loved to marvel at how his body was so hard yet the skin was so soft.

Damon lifted my leg to hook it over his hip and led his weeping erection to my entrance. With a smooth move, he thrust inside filling me deeply. I whimpered at the familiar sensation of being stretched and bucked my hips to take him more fully.

After only a few thrusts, Damon pulled out and flipped me over onto my stomach. I landed with an irritated oomph, but he was already pulling my hips upwards for better access to my dripping pussy. With great precision, he skewered me on the end of his cock, taking advantage of the new angle to reach even more deeply than before.

As he pounded into me from behind, every few thrusts brushed my g-spot making my eyes slide out of focus and noises of pleasure fall frantically from my lips. Even though I was moving of my own accord to meet his thrusts, Damon still grabbed my hips and forced me back even harder onto his driving cock. The force of our coupling was divine and my head lolled forward as if I was unable to hold myself up of my own power.

His cock making repeated contact with my g-spot was finally too much, and I came, gushing fluid everywhere. Damon grunted at the new slickness coating his member and after a few more strokes met his own completion.

Damon pulled his flaccid cock from my vagina and fell to the other side of the bed, breathing deeply. I allowed myself to collapse limply onto my stomach. Together, we rested in a post-orgasmic haze.

Once I felt confident that I could speak without gasping, I murmured, "We could get room service…breakfast in bed. Mmm, I want waffles and bacon and strawberries. Coffee would be nice too but I doubt it could wake me up more than you just did. But it would be nice all the same."

"You can get the continental breakfast downstairs. I'm going to stay here and make some more calls," Damon said, standing up to collect his clothes.

I winced, hurt at his lack of interest in seeing me. I followed his lead and pulled on a shirt and jeans lying at the base of the bed.

Hesitantly I broached the subject and said, "Damon, is everything alright with you?"

"Yeah, I'm walking on sunshine. The birds are singing and show tunes are dancing through my head. I'm fine," Damon sniped sarcastically.

"It's jut, you've been a little cold to me since I woke up," I said, refusing to let the subject drop.

"Elena, it's barely nine. Give me some time to put on my prince charming hat. I'm not in the mood to cater to you right now!" Damon snapped hostilely.

My jaw dropped as I couldn't even begin to hide my shock, "I'm not asking you for anything difficult! I just want you to be nice to me!"

"But I'm not nice!" Damon said, his voice rising in volume, "I'm not romantic or sweet or sensitive. You want something I can't fucking give."

"You've been doing just fine," I said in a tone that brooked no argument.

He didn't seem to hear the warning in my voice as he continued, "Not every day can be a swim with a dolphin! I can't decide if you're just delusional thinking that the bad vampire will buy you roses and hold your hand or if you're a conniving, demanding bitch."

"Stop it!" I shrieked, his words hurting me more than I cared to admit. "Why are you ruining it? Last night was prefect! You're going to make me cry."

My confession that I was near tears seemed to soften him and he said, "I'm…sorry. I'm just so confused. There are all these doubts in my mind and I've been up all night driving myself crazy."

"What are you so worried about?" I asked in a gentle and supportive tone of voice.

"I'm not a boyfriend. I've never been a boyfriend. I don't know if I can keep you happy."

So he was upset about what I had said last night. That made sense though I wished he had reacted differently. To be honest I barely remembered my dreamy words about how he was my boyfriend. I had been coming down from an intense orgasm and fell asleep moments later. How much could you expect of me in that moment?

I said softly, "We'll work through these fears –"

"And I'm not even sure any of this is real," Damon interrupted. "Maybe you mean nothing at all to me. Maybe I'm just transferring my feelings onto you. Maybe I'm punishing my brother for stealing the woman I love by taking you."

"You still love Katherine?" I gasped, just saying the words caused a painful spasm in my chest.

"You still love Stefan!" Damon shouted.

"You're right I do love Stefan! I hope he comes back soon. We could swap! I'll have Stefan and you'll have Katherine. And I'll be happier than I ever could be with you!" I screeched spitefully, wanting nothing more than to hurt him the way he was hurting me.

Without another word I raced towards the elevator and hit the button. The elevator must not have been in use because the doors immediately opened and I stepped inside. Damon stood in what seemed to be a stupor making no move to follow me or respond in any way to my sudden retreat.

As the elevator doors started to close, Damon suddenly yelled, "Fuck! Elena, wait!"

I ignored him and watched as the doors closed on the image of his frantic face. Once the elevator came to the first floor, I wasted no time and immediately ran out of the lobby. I could not stand the thought of being anywhere near Damon right now and I did not want to risk him catching me if I lingered too long in the lobby.

Once I was outside, I took off at a spring racing down the sidewalk. For five minutes, I ran with no sense of where I was going or what was happening. I was simply relishing in the feeling of getting as far away from the scene of the "crime" as possible. Finally, I came to a stop and simply stood panting on the sidewalk.

The air outside was oppressive and pressed heavily on my lungs. It was obscenely humid. The sun had still not fully risen, so the temperature was only hovering at around seventy degrees. Still, the heat irritated me as it seeped into my skin. It was too great a contrast between the temperature and the cold I felt inside.

I released a having sob as I looked around. I was standing on a busy sidewalk in a city I was not overly familiar with, not a penny in my pocket, and ostensibly stranded. Sure I could find my way back to the hotel and Damon would take me home, but I could not even fathom withstanding such a horrible car ride. He would look at me again with those heartless eyes, reminding me what I had given up for him. Before him, I had _never_ had sex with someone who I didn't love and was safe in the knowledge that he loved me as well. Now I knew why that was a good policy.

I took off down the street once more, walking hurriedly with no real idea where I was going. Smart? No. Necessary? It sure as hell felt like it right now.

What had I been thinking when I started this with Damon? I was not the type of girl who could just have casual sex! I craved intimacy and that elusive sense of actually knowing someone on a deeper level. Damon was the king of no commitment.

That's not entirely true, a nasty and traitorous voice whispered in my mind. He certainly managed to stay true to Katherine for a long time. He was obsessed for 150 plus years! What did that bitch have that inspired so much loyalty?

The rub was that I had really deluded myself into believing Damon wanted the same thing. When had it stopped being about sex and started being something…more? A part of me wondered if it had ever simply been about sex. After all, there had been no denying there was a strong base of affection and friendship between us even before we started our affair.

Was it possible that his feelings for me had diminished as he started to know me better? Maybe Damon had wanted me when he thought I was some perfectly innocent angel. The opposite of Katherine Pierce in every sense of the world. Or worse, maybe he had secretly hoped I would turn out to be deep down the same as Katherine and was disappointed in the truth that we were hardly similar.

My thoughts circled around speculations about Damon's motives and memories of his cruelty, while my feet moved as if not connected to my body. I must have spent an hour simply walking around and feeling sorry for myself.

All of that ended when a figure walked by me, making chills dart up my neck. I did a double take, my head whipping around to stare at the retreating body. The stranger had dark hair, cut messy and close to his head, broad shoulders, and was only about five feet eight inches. It was hardly an unusual description, yet instinct was screaming at me that this was hardly a stranger. The sense of familiarity made me turn around and follow.

The way the man walked, shifting his shoulders and with a hint of swagger only strengthened my conviction that I knew this person. I dodged a few oncoming pedestrians and hurried through the congested Atlanta streets. I realized I was going to lose him when a light turned red, stranding us on opposite sides of the street.

Unwilling to give up, I took a deep breath and bellowed, "Tyler Lockwood!"

The man spun around, and it was him. The sharp nose, strong jaw, and obsidian eyes that belonged to my old friend were staring back at me. Tyler had been missing for months. After Caroline's torture at the hands of the werewolves, Tyler had disappeared, presumably with the remaining werewolves.

The town had watch Carol Lockwood's initial frantic searching turn to hopeless desperation and finally numb resignation. And here, in Atlanta, was the son she had been searching for.

When the light changed, I practically flew across the street, flinging my arms around his solid neck. Reluctantly, Tyler's hands rested against my shoulders, hugging me back.

"Do you have any idea how much everyone has been looking for you?" I gasped against his chest.

Caroline, Matt, Carol, and so many others would be overjoyed to see him and know that he was safe.

"Hi, Elena," Tyler said, breaking our embrace with a pained, guilty expression. "How bad has everyone been?"

I sighed, "Your mom hasn't been good. Caroline's mom has been picking up a lot of your mom's slack, because she stays home and…drinks."

Tyler winced visibly, "Is that it?"

"Matt was really bad for a while, but he's getting better. He actually found out about vampires and that was hard on him. Caroline kind of rotates between fury and sadness," I briefed him.

"Shit," Tyler said, his face crumpled with emotion.

"You should come home," I urged.

Tyler evaded the question by asked, "What are you doing here anyway, Elena? Were you looking for me? How did you find me?"

"No, I had no idea you would be here. This is a freak coincidence. I was on a date…with Damon," I said, embarrassed to admit I was with Damon of all people. "Can you believe it ended badly?"

Tyler snorted, "You mean he's not a perfect gentleman? God, Elena. You and I are fucked up."

"Yep."

"Let me buy you a cup of coffee."

I quickly learned that my previous experiences with werewolves had left with some incorrect notions of how werewolves behaved in day to day life. According to Tyler, werewolves led fairly simple lives. Most held regular jobs and regular relationships; they just had problem once a month.

Tyler lived with Jules in an apartment in Atlanta; she had decided not to return to Miami following Brady's death. Jules partially owned a sporting goods store that Tyler worked at part time. He could not go to school as a missing child, but he took courses online so that he could someday get his GED.

When I had questioned if he was lonely, Tyler had burst out laughing. Six other werewolves lived in his apartment building, and they were all members of the same "pack." A pack was an extremely exclusive family. They ate meals, worked out, and had movie nights together. They also locked themselves up and turned into murderous beasts together. The typical family unit.

"The best part," Tyler said, "Is that I have learned so much about how to deal with what I am and how to deal with all of the side effects."

"What kind of side effects?" I asked, sipping delicately at my third mocha frappe since we had arrived three hours ago.

"I'm hot all the time. I would never wear clothes if I could get away from it. I'm horny a lot and I get angry easily," Tyler answered.

"I can't imagine you being angrier," I said in disbelief.

"Well, the cool part is that I'm learning how to control it. I get mad but I don't always become a dick about it," Tyler clarified.

"You're growing," I exclaimed happily.

"Enough about me," Tyler ordered. "How the hell did you end up with Damon?"

I played with my hands nervously, "It's an odd story."

"You wouldn't be Elena Gilbert if it wasn't," Tyler pointed out.

"Stefan left, and I became close with Damon" I began uneasily.

"And one thing led to another," Tyler finished knowingly.

I blushed turning redder than a crayon, "Actually, I sort of propositioned him for sex."

Tyler blinked, his face expressionless before bursting out in what could only be described as a guffaw. After a few seconds when it became obvious that Tyler would not be settling down any time soon, I started to ignore him. I glared pointedly around the coffee shop, disapproval emanating from my body.

Eventually, Tyler settled down, merely snorting every few seconds.

"Are you done?" I demanded harshly, eyes narrowed on his amused face.

"Yeah, sorry. It's just, you're Elena Gilbert. In school everyone thought of you as the perfect good girl. I mean, you could be bad and party when you wanted to, but you always had that innocent thing going," Tyler explained.

"And now I'm fucking my ex-boyfriend's brother. A murderer," the words tasted sour in my mouth.

Tyler sighed, "I am in no way Damon Salvatore's biggest fan, so let me preface what I'm about to say with the advice that any sane girl would cut and run. That said, is he so much worse than Stefan?"

I furrowed my brow in confusion. Of course Damon was worse than Stefan! Damon could be heartless, killing without mercy. Stefan was noble and plagued by his past. He never embraced it like Damon did. And Stefan was only too happy to be my boyfriend!

"Yes," I answered succinctly, "He is."

"When I see Stefan and Damon, I don't see a difference. Now, you know better them better than me, but they seem like two guys that both do everything they can to avoid the truth that they're monsters," Tyler said profoundly.

There was an uncomfortable level of truth to his statement. Stefan secretly believed he was a lost cause so he threw himself into a ritual of self-repression to avoid his fate. Damon wanted people to see him as nothing but a monster because when people saw him as a man, it reminded him of how human he once was. That reminder made him feel guilty and more monstrous than anyone's hatred possibly could.

"I know that I'm crazy. I am the woman that marries convicted criminals because I am deluded enough to think I can actually save them," I said, feeling a less than healthy amount of self hatred in that moment.

"Maybe you can," Tyler said, shocking me. "I would need to be blind to not notice how strong an affect you have on them. If anyone could save them, it would be you."

"But I can only save one of them, and the one that I don't choose will be destroyed," I said, my previous hatred now disappearing to be replaced with a wave of hopelessness.

"Where is Stefan in all this anyway? He has to notice you cheating with Damon," Tyler said.

"I'm not cheating!" I snapped, horrified at the suggestion. It had taken a long time of making excuses to stop feeling as if I was somehow cheating on Stefan, and I did not like to be reminded of my guilt. "As I mentioned earlier, Stefan left. He left, and he took Katherine – his evil ex-girlfriend who looks exactly like me – with him."

"Ouch. Well, it sounds like he made your decision for you," Tyler pointed out.

"But he left to protect me! I know he would feel horribly betrayed if he found out about me and Damon. How can I do that to him?" I protested.

"When you truly love someone, you don't run away. It's the easy way out," Tyler said.

"You did," I said hotly.

"I'm a coward."

I suddenly didn't know what to say. I cleared my throat awkwardly and met his solid gaze for a moment. No one in my life had ever so unabashedly admitted to being weak. I wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"So what went wrong on your date?" Tyler asked, saving me from having to respond to his earlier statement.

"It was perfect, the best planned date I have ever been on. I felt like I was in a movie," I explained. "Then I made the stupid mistake of calling him my boyfriend. I'm not even sure I meant it; it just slipped out. He could barely talk to me except to say he couldn't be what I need and he still loves fucking Katherine!"

Tyler looked confused, "I thought Stefan was with Katherine."

"He is! The bitch is a whore walking around with my face on," I growled. Every time I cursed, my face twisted into an ugly expression. It came from my parents teaching me not to say bad words. There was a physical response from my body whenever I said one.

"She was with my Uncle Mason," Tyler commented, as if to suggest Katherine could not be as bad as I claimed.

"She was cheating on your Uncle Mason and made Jenna stab herself with a cooking knife. Trust me, the woman is an excellent actress and would lie about the day of the week if you asked her."

Tyler held up his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture and said, "Maybe Damon is scared he can't be what you need. And maybe he doesn't understand how he feels about you, so he is trying to rationalize it. There's a chance he didn't really mean what he said."

"Oh, thanks Dr. Phil," I mocked him. "Or maybe, just maybe he meant what he said, and I'm just an idiot."

"Let him try to explain it. Give him a chance! If you're going to dump him, do it because he's a vampire, not because you both let yourselves get scared."

"I couldn't if I wanted to. I have no phone and no cash," I said.

"I will make sure you get home," Tyler assured me.

"You can do me one better," I said, inspiration striking me out of nowhere. "Come back with me."

"Elena, I can't," Tyler began to protest.

I gave him my most desperate eyes and in the most earnest voice in my arsenal, I said, "Tyler, come home. Your mother needs you. She's all alone in a big house, not knowing if you're okay or not. You can figure out all of the wolf stuff in Mystic Falls. Please!"

Tyler seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before grumbling, "I'd have to borrow Jules' car."

**A/N: So I know that wasn't what most people were hoping for last chapter but sometimes you have to stay true to the characters even when the characters want to be stupid.**

**Please review! It only takes a few seconds and it keeps me happy and motivated. Not enough reviews means Stefan comes back and Damon and Elena never make up! Just kidding, I'm not evil, but you get the point. Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm horribly sorry for the long delay. Real life momentarily supplanted my imagination. But I'm back! And this may be the smuttiest chapter I've ever written. Something tells me you all won't mind ;)**

**Warning: There is some anal play in this chapter. It's not full on anal sex, but I know some people get freaked out by that. It's in the second half of the chapter, and there's plenty of smut before that. You'll be able to tell when it's coming!**

The sun had mostly set, leaving orange streaks across the quickly darkening sky by the time Tyler and I arrived back in Mystic Falls. The drive had been at moments fun at others tense. Three times Tyler had contemplated turning around, and I had needed to talk him down.

We drove up to my house, and I smiled tentatively at him. Concern laced through my words, I asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Tyler nodded, his face set in deep thought, "Yeah, I'm just…worried about what I'm going to find when I get home."

I threaded my hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze. Over the course of the dozen hours we had spent together, I had made a new emotional connection with Tyler that had never existed during the many years we had been casual friends. I trusted him, despite his controversial werewolf affiliation, and I was pretty sure he felt comfortable relying on me in return.

"Your mom loves you. It's going to be okay," I reassured him.

"How are you so unfailingly optimistic with everything that's happened to you? You should be living in a box scared to come out," Tyler said.

I sighed heavily, "Stuff happens, Tyler. Bad stuff, but you can't let that stop you from living your life. We have to be stronger than that."

"Goodnight, Elena," Tyler said quietly.

"If you need to talk, I'm always here," I offered, opening my car door as I spoke.

I climbed out of the car and watched, standing on the sidewalk, as Tyler drove towards the Lockwood mansion. With heavy feet, I walked up the path towards the house. Once inside, I sank to the floor, resting my head against the door.

It had been an emotionally taxing forty-eight hours. I had hit impossibly high highs and sunk to crushing lows. Despite my brave words to Tyler, I wasn't sure I was as ready to face the world as I claimed.

Eventually, I would need to see Damon. He was in possession with my purse complete with license, phone, and credit card. I would need to go to him if he didn't come to me.

Heaving myself up, I walked into the kitchen. My steps faltered at seeing Jenna, Jeremy, and Travis sitting down to dinner like a happy, functioning family. If a functioning family consisted of an aunt slash college student, a delinquent orphan, and the aunt's cradle robbing boyfriend.

"Elena," Jenna greeted cheerfully. "I wasn't expecting you back for a few more hours! How was your trip?"

Jeremy interjected, "I texted you a few times. Why didn't you answer?"

"My phone battery died," I lied, though a twitch of my lip might have given me away. "My weekend was fine, Jenna."

"Do you want anything to eat?" Jenna asked. "Travis made roast beef and potatoes."

Travis made a dismissive motion with his hand, "They're nothing special. It's your Aunt's Boston Cream Pie that's truly spectacular."

I couldn't stop a look of disbelief from crossing my face. Jenna spotted it and scowled.

"It's edible," Jenna said defensively.

"I'll pass. I just want to go to bed," I said.

I cast a sneaky glance at Travis. It was immature but I didn't want him in my house. Right now when I felt like nothing was going right, I wanted the normalcy of seeing Alaric sitting at the table. Travis was a stranger and a usurper in my house.

I left the kitchen with Jeremy hot on my heels. In an uncharacteristic move, Jeremy pulled me into a hug. I relaxed immediately, finding safety in the familiarity and love in his embrace.

Jeremy whispered against my ear, "You know you can tell me anything. I will always be there for you."

"Are you okay?" I asked with a chuckle, uncomfortable with how weird he was acting.

"I know that you weren't hanging out with friends this weekend," Jeremy said bluntly, the accusation evident in his voice.

My muscles tensed, and I stumbled backwards out of his arms. "How did you...?"

"Bonnie made a few calls," Jeremy answered. "You never invited anyone to go to the lake house with you."

"I just went alone," I stuttered.

"See, I don't believe you," Jeremy said before walking away, leaving me gaping in shock in the hall.

Damon's POV

Finally, a low burn lit up my arms, straining my biceps and triceps. It had only taken 1,000 pushups, but finally, the constructive pain I had been striving for had begun to set in.

Self punishment was undoubtedly one of my vices. I always found new ways to self destruct whenever something went wrong in my life. Usually, I turned to alcohol, numbing my mind until I reached the point where I blindly lashed out and screwed myself over. Other times I resorted to killing because the emptiness that accompanied the act was more reassuring than living with my guilt. And sometimes, I sought out a woman or two to bring to my bed. Sex itself had long ago stopped having any emotional significance. Reminding myself that I could no longer connect with other people was in many ways the cruelest punishment I could inflict upon myself.

The alcohol, the murder, the women, none of those options appealed to me in this moment. They would all be reminders that I was not worthy of Elena. She would never approve of me indulging in any of these pursuits. She was always trying to transform me into a better person. As much as it irritated me, I realized that I would feel somewhat lost without the shadow of her disapproval guiding me.

When the doorbell rang, I immediately knew it had to be Elena. I could hear a frustrated huff from outside my door that could only come from her. It frightened me that the beating of her heart and rhythm of her breathing sounded familiar to my ears. I had become eerily familiar with her bodily functions.

"Are you here for your stuff?" I asked unceremoniously when I opened the door.

Elena looked startled at my lack of greeting, but her face quickly screwed up into a look of annoyance. "That would be nice thanks."

"Let me grab it for you," I said, making to shut the door on her.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Elena demanded, she looked rightfully offended that I had intended to leave her standing on the patio.

"Of course. Elena, would you like to wait inside?" I said through clenched teeth.

I wasn't sure was I was so mad. Maybe I had been hoping Elena had arrived to talk rather than just grab her things and leave. I didn't want her to leave. A part of me was worried that when she walked out my door, she wouldn't come back. At least, she wouldn't come back as my lover or friend.

"Damon, I was thinking," Elena started to say.

"I think I left it in the kitchen. If you would just give me a minute, I can grab it for you," I said.

Elena rolled her eyes, "That can wait. I wanted to say –"

"I have your wallet. Your credit card and I.D. are still inside. I swear I didn't even swipe your cash. So I'll just grab that."

"Shut up! I need you to be quiet because we are going to talk this out dammit!" Elena said heatedly, effectively silencing me.

I merely raised an eyebrow at this seemingly contradictory order. Elena had probably earned the right to give me a piece of her mind, so I squared my shoulders and readied myself to listen to her abuse. I could return her wallet afterwards.

"I need to know if you find the idea of being my boyfriend so repulsive. If all you want is a solely physical relationship, you need to tell me now. Because I got this crazy idea that we were becoming more than that. So if I was just imagining things, tell me, and there will be no need to continue this conversation," Elena said, the anger dissipating as she spoke until all that remained was a timid warble.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and bit her lip slightly. Every trace of confidence Elena possessed had completely disappeared. She seemed almost broken as she waited for me to answer.

"It's not that I don't want more," I began, earning a chocked sound from Elena.

Her eyes welled up with tears, and for the first time, I realized just how emotionally invested Elena had become in our quasi-relationship. She made a jerking movement to leave the room. I caught her hand, stilling her movements.

Locking eyes with Elena, I said, "I don't want more. I want everything."

Elena stilled completely, as if every ounce of breath had been forcibly knocked out of her. Her eyes still contained traces of unshed tears but there was a mixture of confusion and hope lingering in them as well.

"What about Katherine?" Elena asked tremulously.

"Fuck Katherine," I said forcefully, my lips twisting into a smirk.

The corners of Elena's mouth tilted upwards a bit, but she still persisted, "You said you still loved her."

"I had a moment of panic, and I reacted stupidly. It's kind of my modus operandi. I do not love Katherine. I realized that Katherine didn't deserve my affection a long time ago," I explained.

Elena sighed, "Love is rarely rational."

"Yeah, falling for my brother's girl wasn't the wisest decision I ever made."

Relaxing for perhaps the first time since she arrived, Elena sat down on the couch.

"I'm not you know," Elena said ambiguously. "I'm not Stefan's girl. At least not anymore."

Maybe there was still more to say about Stefan and Katherine, but neither of us were ready to talk about that. At least not anymore tonight. There was only so much we could deal with in a single day, and we were pushing our limit. For now, what had already been said was enough for both of them.

"So this whole boyfriend girlfriend thing, is that included in your everything? Because earlier you kind of freaked out about the idea," Elena questioned nervously.

"It can if you want. I've never tried before, but I want you to be happy," I responded honestly.

Elena gave her first genuine smile of the evening and said, "Then yes, I want you to be my boyfriend. You're not some shameful secret, and I have too much respect for both of us to act like we don't mean anything to each other."

"Does that mean you want to tell people about us?"I asked.

Elena looked shocked at the very suggestion, as if she had never considered going public with our unconventional relationship. Her friends would probably be less than thrilled to accept me as Elena's boyfriend, and I didn't want to put her in a position to be pressured into breaking up with me. I couldn't imagine Jenna would go down on this issue without a fight either.

"Not yet," Elena finally decided. "I want to test the waters first to see how they respond. As it is, I think Jeremy and Bonnie have already gotten suspicious."

"Okay," I agreed, running my fingers through her silky hair. "How did you get back from Atlanta? I looked all over for you."

"I ran into Tyler actually, and he drove me home."

"Tyler Lockwood?" I demanded. "As in the werewolf connected to the people who tried to kill you?"

"Tyler Lockwood as in my friend," Elena said in a voice that clearly warned me to drop the subject. "I don't feel like fighting about this right now."

Conceding that another argument was the last thing I wanted, I gave a devious smirk and said, "You know, a boyfriend can exert certain…rights."

"I think you mean husbands," Elena said dryly, but she made no effort to push me away as I pulled her into my lap so that she straddled me.

Her head tilted downward so that I could capture her lips in a teasing but passionate kiss. Her tongue teased the crease of my lips, tantalizing me with her boldness. There were times when a woman' submission was a major turn on, but I wanted to _earn _a woman's sexual submission. A woman who was inherently timid quickly grew boring. Elena always knew exactly what she wanted out of our encounters and went after it energetically.

I wound my hands into the soft strands of her hair, resigning myself to letting her dominate our kiss. When her tongue pressed more insistently against the seam of my mouth, I dutifully opened my mouth to let her tongue thoroughly ravage me.

Elena broke away suddenly and growled, "You know I'm still mad at you. What you did in Atlanta really sucked."

I hoped she didn't notice the physical way my body responded to her growl as my cock especially paid attention to her domineering attitude.

"That's why you have makeup sex," I said. "It lets you get all those aggressive feelings out."

"I know," Elena purred. "And I fully intend to."

With strong hands, Elena maneuvered and pushed until I lay vertically across the couch. She dragged my body downwards so that my head lay on the cushions and the parts of my legs that didn't fit on the couch dangled over the arm rest.

Elena's tiny hands drifted slowly down my chest, stopping to hover over my belt buckle. I sucked in a shuddering breath and prayed that she would take pity on my rapidly worsening state. I needed her desperately – her hand, her mouth, or her moist pussy. Honestly, I was beyond caring about which. Her aggressive attitude had me harder for her than I had been…well, I was always fully aroused for her. Regardless, this domineering side to Elena was more than welcome.

To my horror, Elena abruptly stood up, ceasing all contact between our bodies. I scowled menacingly at her, but Elena just smiled coyly in return.

Sensually, Elena ran her hands down her sides. She lingered at the curve of her breasts before toying with the hem of her shirt. When I was sure the anticipation would kill me, she pulled her top off baring her toned body to my lusty gaze. Unwilling to go through the same torture with her bra, I sped towards her and unclasped and ripped it off of her before she could complain. With my vampire speed, I returned to my previous position, leaving Elena sputtering in rage but blessedly topless.

"Don't do anything like that again!" Elena demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

It was hard to take Elena seriously when she was clad in nothing but her Calvin Kleins. Watching her figure taper inward at her slim waist before flaring outward with her shapely hips made me lick my lips. For a woman so slight, the prominent curves of her hips were shocking. Gripping them during sex, driving my nails into her flesh always added an extra jolt of pleasure to our lovemaking.

Seemingly exasperated, Elena removed her jeans and thong without any fanfare.

"Be a good boy and don't move," Elena ordered coolly.

Elena lowered herself downward to straddle my torso. She wiggled forward until her pussy hovered temptingly above my mouth.

"Can I move now?" I questioned cockily, blowing hot air against her exposed labia.

Elena scowled in response and yanked my hair in a clear demand that I get to work. The musky scent of her sex was nearly overwhelming, pressed so tightly against my nose and mouth. With no effort on my part, dribbles of milky liquid escaped her cunt and wet my lips and jaw. The taste of a woman's juices was hardly the most traditionally delicious flavor. It, however, had a kind of Pavlov's dog effect on me. I had been conditioned to connect the heady taste with future pleasure, and now, I desired it like nothing else.

Flicking my tongue rapidly back and forth, I stimulated her clit. One of Elena's hands laced through my hair, gripping tightly. I nipped gently at the sensitive bud, just letting my teeth graze her flesh. Elena's hips bucked, smashing my face more deeply into her pussy. There could be no teasing in this position. Elena was completely in control of the pressure. If she wanted, she could just hump my face to completion in a matter of minutes.

As Elena enthusiastically grinded against my face, I snaked my tongue into the hole between her legs and lapped up the free flowing honey. Her clit was pressed tightly against my nose as she twisted her hips in little circles. While Elena enjoyed how quickly my tongue could move back and forth, that had never truly been her thing. She was undoubtedly a pressure girl. The ability to give her clit such hard pressure would have her coming undone in a matter of minutes.

As I swirled my tongue through her passage, I became aware that my own arousal was getting out of hand. I had been too hard for too long, and it was time to do something about it. I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled down the zipper. With a few deft movements I had my cock out and pressing against my stomach. Never ceasing the movements of my tongue, I began to tug my cock in time with the movements of my mouth.

I rubbed the precum emanating from the head over the tip and started to smooth some down my shaft. The new lubrication immediately enhanced the feeling of me stroking my shaft. It was nowhere near as wet as the cavern of Elena's pussy that was currently flooding my mouth, but it would do for now. I grunted with the much needed pleasure, and Elena finally noticed what I was doing. She whipped her torso around to stare at my lower body and released a moan of great satisfaction.

"Damon," Elena whimpered. "Don't stop! That's so…"

I wasn't sure if she was referring to my masturbation or the havoc I was wreaking on her pussy, but I had no intention to stop either. The moment Elena's orgasm hit her, I was flooded with an impossible amount of moisture. She wriggled her pelvis so violently that I needed to hold her hips tightly so that she wouldn't bruise my face. After a few moments, her thrashing stopped, and she slumped forward on the couch.

I dragged her body downward until she was lying on top of me and I could access her pouting lips. When I kissed her, Elena was at first sluggish to respond. Clearly taking charge had been exhausting for her. Unfortunately, she would get no rest until I was equally sated. Even lying on top in the traditionally dominant position, I managed to control our kiss. My tongue stretched deeply into her throat and conquered her own. Every brush of our lips sent shivers down my spine.

Effortlessly, I stood up with Elena cradled in my arms. She broke our kiss to gasp in surprise, but I only allowed her a moment of shock before sucking deeply on her lower lip. I walked us up the stairs. All the while nibbling on her neck until Elena was reduced to a mewling mess.

I deposited her gently on the bed and quickly stripped off my clothing. Elena eyed every piece of exposed skin with keen interest. She was providing a rather nice show herself, so casually lying naked on my bed.

With sure hands, I flipped her over so that she was lying on her stomach. I trailed my hand slowly down the silky skin of her back, reveling in the lack of scars and blemishes. Her body was like an untouched canvas just waiting for someone to draw on it.

In an uncharacteristically bold move, Elena lifted her lower body up on spread knees while keeping her face and chest pressed into the bed. The graceful arch of her back and the way she eagerly exposed herself by parting her knees made me nearly delirious with lust.

"Where did that come from?" I whispered huskily. She had shown so much initiative so far tonight, I was beginning to wonder if she needed me to teach her anything else. Maybe it was a good thing we had redefined our relationship, because lessons were clearly no longer needed.

"It was in the porno we watched," Elena said quietly, a hint of embarrassment leaking through at copying a porno.

I swallowed hard and replied hoarsely, "Well…keep it up."

Resting one knee on the edge of the bed, I lined myself up with her pussy. Bracing myself mentally, I slid inside and was immediately overcome with how magnificent she felt. Her muscles rippled around my cock, squeezing it oh so tightly, and we had only just begun. I pulled out most of the way and then thrust back inside her pussy.

I ran my left hand through her hair, earning a contented purr from Elena. This position had always been one of my favorites because it allowed me to distance myself from the woman. Who I was fucking did not particularly matter, and the woman could not interact as much while pressed into the mattress. That, however, was not what I wanted from Elena. Therefore, I ran my hands through her hair, creating a measure of intimacy between us. Even as my balls slapped against her ass hard with each fierce thrust, I felt we were connected on a deeper level. She would be my undoing without a doubt.

I slowed down my face dramatically when a monumental thought hit me. _I was having sex with my girlfriend_! This wasn't a random hook up or a mere means to release our sexual tension. The sex actually meant something because we both meant something to each other. Neither of us were denying that we had feelings for each other – the kind of feelings that lead first to sex and then to snuggling afterwards.

I immediately pulled out and flipped Elena back over so that she was lying on her back. When I reentered her, I took it slow and made sure to relish in every wondrous sensation. I held her ridiculously sexy hips in my palms, marveling at how perfectly the fit. Every plane of her body was pressed against mine as I led us in a slow rhythm. Every thrust had me reaching deep within her, and I could feel every shifting muscle in her body.

She was so unbelievably soft pressed against my unyielding muscles. Elena had muscles too, but they were hidden beneath sumptuous curves. I hooked my arms around her legs and indicated that she should wrap them around my waist. Elena complied eagerly, locking her ankles together at the small of my back. Her legs were unbelievably sexy too, I mused. Even though she was only about five and a half feet, her legs seemed miles long, and they were toned to perfection.

Finding sanctuary deep within her body, I realized that I was a ticking time bomb. I could not hold back the avalanche of my orgasm much longer. I could already feel a slight tightening in my balls. If I wanted Elena to get off, I would need to do something fast.

I flexed the muscles of my abdomen and maneuvered my body so that one tightened muscle brushed against Elena's clit. Keeping all my muscles tightened as I thrust was difficult, but I managed to rub the firm muscles in my lower abdomen against her clit every few strokes. This was evidently the best strategy as a minute later Elena tightened tellingly around my cock.

Realizing I was finally free to give into my orgasm, I started to thrust more roughly. Elena was gasping and groaning as her pussy milked my cock. At the peak of her climax her moans dissolved into an undignified screech of pleasure. My own groans quickly mixed with hers as I spilled myself inside of her.

Both of us were momentarily exhausted. I collapsed onto my side, just avoiding falling onto Elena's fragile body. Elena likewise rolled over so that she was pressed tightly against me. For a few minutes, we allowed ourselves to rest. After what seemed a lifetime, our breathing seemed to finally regulate.

"Does this mean we've officially made up?" I ventured quietly. I didn't want to make an assumption about what our frantic coupling actually meant for our tumultuous relationship.

Elena nestled her head more securely into the crook of my shoulder and snapped, "I wouldn't have slept with you if I was mad."

The venom in her voice was counteracted by her obvious exhaustion, so I felt comfortable shooting back, "Because there was no aggression on your part at all."

I gave a surprised gasp as Elena angled her head to give hard nip to my pec. Her blunt little teeth managed to get a surprisingly strong grip before I managed to shake her loose.

"Now you've done it," I growled menacingly.

I tackled her down so that she lay prone with my body hovering above her own. I quickly gathered her hands in one of my own and held them above her head, resting on the bed. Before Elena could begin to regain her bearings, I snaked my free hand down to her stomach and began to tickle her mercilessly.

Elena's legs thrashed violently, trying ineffectually to unseat her attacker. I ignored her breathless pleas to stop as her laughter grew increasingly loud and desperate. She had such a genuine, almost childish laugh. It was a reminder of how sweet –.

"Ouch! Fuck!" I swore, perhaps foolishly unprepared for the pain in my chest.

Elena's teeth were brutally clamped down on my tender nipple. Any attempts I made to pull her off were hindered by her insistent grip. I was a little concerned that if I managed to pull her off, she would take my poor, abused nipple with her.

My fingers worked relentlessly, trying to torment Elena into releasing her iron grip on my flesh. The tickling only seemed to make Elena bite even harder. I was sure Elena was tasting the tang of my blood. I couldn't deny that the idea of her mouth filled with my blood appealed to the animal within me. I wanted to see it dribble out of her mouth and trickle down her naked body. I wanted to rub it thickly into her flesh and watch her orgasm with my blood staining her olive skin.

As arousing as the situation was, my spent dick was not ready for another round. The feeble twitch it attempted just left me feeling achy. Not to mention, the pesky stabs of pain from Elena's bite were really beginning to hurt.

Wanting to shock Elena into releasing my bruised nipple, I snuck a finger between our bodies and slid the tip into her pussy. Elena squeaked in surprise, her lips releasing my nipple with a satisfying pop. All of the blood rushed to the released flesh and a jolt of pleasure flooded through me.

"You're just a little tiger today," I growled, pumping my finger playfully.

Her pussy had at first been a little dry, but moisture was quickly collecting and coating my finger. While my body may have been refusing any future pleasure, I still had every intention of getting Elena off one last time. Maybe I could fit in a little pleasurable payback as well.

I pulled out my finger, earning a disappointed mewl from Elena. I moved my slickened finger downwards until it pressed gently at the puckered hole between the cleft of her buttocks.

Elena let out a hiss that sounded like an enraged cat and shouted, "What do you think you're doing!"

"Pleasuring you," I replied simply.

"Not there you're not!" Elena argued, trying to pull herself up the bed as my hands held her hips in place.

"Not so fast," I teased. "You hurt me pretty bad, so now you have to sit back and take your punishment."

"You're a vampire. You'll heal!" Elena exclaimed with exasperation.

I smirked, "Now you're just making excuses. Why don't you trust me with this?"

"It will hurt," Elena said with a hint of challenge in her voice.

"It would only hurt if I rammed my cock in with no preparation. Fortunately, I know how to make it good, and I'm not hard enough in the first place," I reassured her. "I would just be playing a little back there. I promise, after a little discomfort, you'll like it."

Elena bit her lip, "But it's dirty in every sense of the word."

"You're pussy's not exactly the cleanest part of your body," I said with an eye roll, ignoring Elena's gasp of indignation. "As to the idea that it somehow makes you a dirty person, no one will ever know. It doesn't somehow make you a slut…well, at least no more than approaching a guy to be your fuck sensei would make you."

"Fuck sensei?" Elena mouthed, her lips twitching upward into a grip in spite of her nervousness.

"You're right; I can't be called that anymore. I'm your boyfriend now."

Elena's expression softened at the reminder of our new relationship status, and she sighed, "You have five minutes, and your dick better not come near me."

She closed her eyes and leaned backwards so she was lying on the bed. She looked like she planned to take a nap. Only her clenched jaw revealed that she was at all paying attention. I snorted; she would find it difficult to remain relaxed for long.

I eased my forefinger back into her pussy, shocking Elena into opening her eyes.

"I thought you were…" Elena began, hope that I had changed my mind evident in her voice.

"All in good time," I smirked darkly.

I pumped my finger slowly, heating Elena up with each leisurely movement of my hand. Placing a hand on her abdomen, I probed deeply and crooked my fingers inside her. Bingo! My finger found the leathery skin that signaled her g-spot and pressed it gently. A husky moan fell from Elena's parted lips. I gave a few more thrusts, hitting her g-spot with each stroke until my finger was thoroughly soaked with her juices.

I pulled my finger out, ignoring the way Elena's pussy pulsed around my exiting digit as it tried to trap me inside. I leaned down so that I could examine Elena's untouched rosette and spat to lubricate it.

"Damon! Don't be disgusting!" Elena yelped.

"I'm trying to keep it from hurting," I defended myself. She made it sound like I got off spitting on her!

Elena huffed, "You have three minutes."

Glad that she was now being only marginally difficult, I let my finger tap gently against the small hole. With an almost painful slowness, I slipped my finger through her puckered hole. Elena gasped as my finger was swallowed up inside her. The searing heat and tightness was awe inspiring. My cock gave another twitch, jealous of my invading finger.

I withdrew and all of the tension I hadn't noticed in Elena's body suddenly relaxed. I collected some of the moisture on Elena's labia that had leaked out and started the process again.

This time, I inserted my finger past the second knuckle and started thrusting slowly, never completely removing my finger. Elena let out a strained grunt, and I glanced away from the captivating sight of my finger disappearing into her body in order to judge her reaction. Elena's eyes were clenched tightly and sweat was collected on her brow. There was a hint of pleasure in the way she panted but discomfort was clearly still overwhelming the pinprick of pleasure.

I dipped my head downward and captured the hardened nub above her sex with my lips and tugged. Elena shrieked and bucked hard, nearly suffocating me with her pussy. A peek at Elena's face made it clear that the discomfort was the last thing on her mind.

With my free arm, I pushed Elena's legs backward so that they rested, bent at the knee, on my shoulders. The advantage of this position was that Elena's ass – still holding my finger – and her pussy were perfectly suspended for my pleasure. The downside was that exposing Elena so totally was embarrassing for her as evidenced by the blush invading her cheeks.

"You're beautiful," I said affectionately, meeting her nervous gaze.

My words had the desired effect, and Elena relaxed enough for me to resume the movement of my finger in her tiny hole. I flicked my tongue back and forth over her clit, enjoying the way Elena would squirm and buck gently. After a few minutes – we were definitely past my five minute time limit – I released her now swollen clit. I wanted her to come from the anal play alone.

"Don't! I'm so close," Elena begged breathlessly.

"Then come," I ordered, a little breathless myself.

Elena shook her head frantically, "I can't. I need just a little bit more."

"Doesn't my finger feel so good?" I crooned seductively. "You're gripping me so tightly. I want you so badly right now. You're the sexiest woman I've ever seen."

Elena moaned at my heated words and her ass clench slightly around my finger. I let the tip of my thumb enter her pussy, and Elena moaned a little louder. After only a few seconds of stimulation, I removed my thumb.

"Every time I see you, I want you like this. I picture it all the time. You lying on my bed, pussy exposed for my eyes, making a puddle on my sheets," I said huskily, reaching up her body to pinch a nipple.

Elena actually thrust her hips downward, urging me to move my finger faster. I obligingly picked up my pace, now entirely focused on Elena's face as she gasped and panted.

"Come, Elena," I ordered again.

Only this time she delivered.

Elena's body tensed up, her back bowing off the bed. Her hands scrambled around on the bed searching for purchase, but ultimately finding nothing to anchor herself to. Her mouth was opened wide as she let out a voiceless scream, and my finger was clenched so tightly, I was worried it would become detached from my body.

After a full minute of convulsing and thrashing about, Elena finally relaxed all of her muscles with an enormous sigh. She collapsed more fully onto the bed and worked on regulating her breathing.

"So…do you think we can try that again sometime," I asked mischievously.

"Yeah," Elena breathed. "We can do that again."

I grinned and got out of bed. Walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Elena called out.

"I have to go wash my hands," I shouted back leaving the room.

As I entered the bathroom, I just heard her angry, "Ass hole!" Damn this had been a good day.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Yay! I'm actually posting! I'm so sorry for how long I've left this story. Life got hectic, but everything has calmed down now, so I should have lots of time to write meaning faster updates!

First, a huge thanks to my beta Princessrae91285. She's fabulous for helping me (:

Second, I'm starting a new Damon/Elena story, which should be posted sometime later this week. I will not abandon this story, but alternate between the two. It's called _Love Amongst the Gods_ (courtesy of Princessrae91285), and I encourage you to check it out because it's doing wonderful things for my muse!

Enjoy!

Elena's POV

Boredom wasn't generally my issue whenever I spent time with Damon Salvatore. At the moment, however, I was feeling a little neglected. Damon continued his phone conversation, while I decided to roam around the library in the Salvatore boardinghouse. On one of the shelves was an antique doll made of porcelain. I picked it up and started to play with its hair, twirling the little pieces of blond twine around my finger. I gingerly tossed the doll from one hand to the other when I tired of fluffing its braids.

In a moment of clumsiness, I dropped the doll onto the wood-paneled floors. There was a foreboding crunch as the delicate porcelain broke. Damon glared towards me, and I smiled back uneasily. He mouthed something that looked like 'my mother's', and I wanted to sink into the floor. That or he threatened to smother me. It was hard to tell which would have been better.

I lifted the doll up to check for damage. It was for the most part unharmed, except a piece above its left eye was missing. Who needed a forehead anyway?

"That's great, man. I'll talk to you later," Damon said as he finally hung up the phone.

I placed the doll back where I found it and returned to the couch. I sat down and swung my legs up to rest on his lap. It was impossible for me to get over how comfortable the couches were in the house. Actually all of their furniture seemed to possess a much needed extra layer of padding that seduced the sitter. I could happily pass out in any armchair in the boardinghouse.

"Are you done destroying my house?" Damon asked disdainfully.

I shook my head, a playful smile gracing my lips. "Actually, I was hoping to tear up your sheets later, but if you're so worried about the state of your house…"

"Feel free to destroy as much of my humble abode as you see fit," Damon said quickly, raising his hands in a placating manner.

I grinned back before deciding it was time to settle down to business. We had a busy day of scheming ahead of us. There was no time for frivolity if we hoped to succeed.

"So did he go for it?" I asked.

"He tried to get out of it, but he was dealing with the master of persuasion. He'll show at 6 o'clock. He said not to be late," Damon reported.

Our evil plan was working perfectly.

"I feel a little guilty though. We're setting him up, and he's too oblivious to realize. What bothers me the most is that he trusts us. More importantly, he trusts me," I admitted.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Enough with the dramatics! It's for Ric's own good."

Last week, Damon and I had decided that since our own relationship was progressing so well (it had been a month since Atlanta), it was our duty to ensure other's relationships could flourish in the same manner. Well, I was the only one who really wanted to play matchmaker. There was something disheartening about watching Jenna and Travis dating each other. They seemed to get along well yet they lacked chemistry. Travis was like oatmeal. Sure Jenna liked to eat it, but wouldn't she prefer some lucky charms?

Damon was less motivated by the pains of seeing unrequited love and more by the fact that Alaric was steadily becoming a true alcoholic. If Damon's word could be trusted, Alaric was a bit mopey whenever he hit the liquor. Damon only had one friend; he couldn't afford for him to be the town drunk.

Together we decided that Jenna had avoided Alaric long enough. There was no real substance to her relationship with Travis. When presented with the passion she once had with Ric, she would drop the old man and all would be right in the universe.

The first step was to convince Jenna that Jeremy was suffering a relapse. Three days before, I had returned from school with stories about how Jeremy needed a major adjustment if he expected to pass his sophomore year, let alone graduate. I let it slip that his lowest grade happened to be in history.

Today, Damon called Ric to convince him that Jenna wanted to talk about Jeremy's grades. While Jenna was concerned, she certainly had no intention of welcoming Alaric to dinner. What he didn't know could not hurt him too terribly. With some cajoling, Alaric agreed to come to the Gilbert house where I would be prepared to greet him. I would pretend I was unaware of the awkwardness this would cause and dinner would commence. What Alaric and Jenna did after dinner was their own business as long as they confined it to the bedroom.

"There was only one hitch in the plan," Damon said. "Alaric insisted that I come over too. Something about moral support and how he has a massive stake collection. I don't know. I tend to tune him out after a while."

"You can't! I think Jeremy is starting to suspect us. We can't give him a whole dinner to study the way we act around each other!" I practically shouted.

"Worried your little brother will see the lust in your eyes," Damon teased.

I adopted one of my stern expressions and said, "I'm worried that he won't take well to the idea of his sister dating the vampire who once snapped his neck. You may have done the secret, manly forgiveness handshake or whatever, but I'm still sure he's going to be cranky about it."

"We can't let our lives be dictated by what other people are going to think. At some point, we will get caught. It is inevitable, and everything will be better if we resign ourselves to the fact that there will be people who are less than pleased," Damon reasoned.

I scowled fiercely at his perfectly practical expression. Sometimes Damon was capable of a gravity and maturity that was very difficult to argue with. Unfortunately, it usually emerged while I was in the middle of arguing with him, so it was less than appreciated.

My words were muffled as I buried my head in my hands, but with Damon's superior hearing, I was sure he would still understand me. "You're right! I just don't want to announce it. We should let it out organically. Just…dinner is going to be so awkward."

"Dinner was always going to be awkward. We are matching a couple up under false pretenses," Damon pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was just going to sit back and watch the fireworks," I grumbled.

Blue eyes grew hazy as they watched me. Damon's face was contorted into a particularly indulgent expression, with his lips quirked up into a self-satisfied smile. My eyes narrowed at the dreamy display.

"You are too adorable when you're grumpy," Damon said. "I just want to kiss your nose."

Which he did immediately afterwards.

I grabbed his face between my hands and returned the favor. My tongue licked the curve of his nose teasingly, before I pulled back and nipped his jaw. I traveled further down his neck and worried the skin between my teeth a bit. It briefly turned an appealing red before quickly fading. Damned vampires and their unnaturally fast rate of healing.

Damon gripped the back of my thighs and maneuvered my body so that I straddled his waist. Our lips met in a wet kiss that had my eyes fluttering closed in pleasure. Damon had truly mastered the art of kissing like few others I had ever encountered. His tongue danced along mine, teasing the nerve endings into a frenzy. We pulled back briefly only to join again, our lips locked together with a delicious pressure. In moments like these, I wished I could inhale him. No matter how deeply he pressed his tongue, I still tried to pull him closer.

He prodded two fingers against the seam of my lips, encouraging me to accept them into my mouth. I opened up obediently so that he could press them as deep as the first knuckle into my mouth. I gripped his wrist and pantomimed an act that I knew he greatly enjoyed. My tongue slid slickly along the two digits, leaving them coated with wetness. As he pulled them out of my mouth, I sucked with all my might, creating an impossibly tight cavern.

If Damon's eyes hadn't already reflected his desire for me, they certainly did now. I pulled away so that I could settle on the floor before him. With sure moments, he unclasped his belt and unbuttoned his pants. Without bothering to completely strip, he released his cock through is boxers. Damon spread his legs wide and his manhood bounced against his clothed abs.

Using his knees for leverage, I lifted myself up just enough that I could reach his cock. I licked a straight path from the base up to the head, which I gave a little swirl. Pulling back, I blew gently against the wet trail. At the sudden sensation, Damon's hips twitched and his cock bobbed slightly.

"How do you want me to touch you?" I whispered seductively. "Like this?"

My hot mouth enveloped the head. He stretched my mouth slightly, but it was hardly uncomfortable. As I held the head stationary within my mouth, I let my tongue trace little patterns along the underside.

Damon's eyes clenched tightly together and he groaned quietly. "Just like that."

I pulled away and gripped him with my hand. I pumped him gently and slowly increased the pressure. I felt the veins sliding against my hand as I moved my hand along his length. My tongue snuck out to just gently rest against the small hole in the tip. It circled around the hole and darted along the entire expanse of the tip.

"Spit on it," Damon ordered hoarsely. "Get it nice and wet."

I leaned over his cock and let the saliva drip downward onto him. It was a convenient lubricant, but it was always difficult for me to actually release the spit. My body had a natural disinclination towards spitting, or maybe I just didn't think it was ladylike. With the aid of the new lubricant, I started to pump him even faster.

Ready to get down to work, I took the head into my mouth once more. I continued jerking him off even as I tried to take him deeper. Now my throat was stretched almost beyond what was tolerable. He had disappeared almost entirely down my throat and was now seated as far as he was going to get. The organ pulsed in my mouth, and I almost choked but managed to refrain.

I bobbed my head up and down in a fast rhythm. With each stroke he rammed against the back of my throat, making my eyes water slightly. As odd as it was originally, however, I had grown accustomed to the discomforts inherent in the act. I garnered a certain satisfaction from sucking him off that offset the unpleasantness. I could feel wetness collecting between my thighs with each passing minute. Damon would have to take care of that for me.

I traced my nails gently along the sacks holding his balls, and Damon practically bucked against my mouth. With a great gasp, I released him entirely from my mouth. I barely managed to catch my breath, however, before Damon pulled me back onto his lap and captured my swollen lips with his. The kiss was searing, and I quickly felt my libido swiping past the point of no return.

The beeping of my phone signaled that our time was to end prematurely. I glanced towards my phone, which lay on the couch and saw it was Bonnie.

"Don't you dare," Damon warned ominously. "Elena Gilbert if you leave me right now I will bite you."

I almost giggled at how petulant he looked but thought better of it. Still I reached for my phone, choosing not to heed his warning. I had neglected my friends too often in the past in favor of Damon. It was time to return to the good ole days of Hoes before Bros. Chicks before Dicks.

"I have to answer. Caroline, Bonnie, and I have a long established agreement to assume that if someone ignores their phone they are being eaten by a vampire. That counts double for me," I explained.

Damon collapsed backwards onto the couch with a huff as I answered the phone.

"Hey, Bon. What's up?"

"I did it!" She squealed excitedly. "I did _it_ with Jeremy!"

"Oh, wow," I said not quite sure what the proper response was when your best friend was deflowered by your brother. Damon snorted, which was impressive since he never stopped scowling at me.

"At first I was really nervous. But I took your advice and set up the room with candles, and it was just so perfectly romantic. He was such a gentleman, and even though I know he wasn't a virgin, I think he was a bit nervous too," Bonnie continued.

During this interval, Damon had somehow managed to remove my pants while keeping me seated on his lap. There were definite perks to vampirism. They should really advertise the increased sexual prowess thing more instead of focusing on all the blood sucking.

His fingers teased the outside of my panties, managing to hone in on my clit even through the fabric. He rubbed the sensitive bundle in tight circles, varying the amount of pressure he applied. My body's reaction was uncontrollable, and I twitched and shivered on his lap.

"I'm glad it worked out, Bonnie," I managed. This was just like that one time when Jenna was on the phone. Maybe Damon was more of an exhibitionist that I realized. We would have to explore that sometime. There was, I had to admit, a small thrill at the idea that we could be caught.

"He was really gentle, you know?" she said, utterly clueless that she didn't have my full attention. "Of course it hurt. I'm not stupid enough to think it would be painless, but eventually the majority of the pain faded away, and I was able to focus on just how good it was."

Damon's free hand cupped a heavy breast, expertly manipulating the flesh. My hand that wasn't holding the phone urgently gripped his shoulder. It was a desperate attempt to anchor myself against the mind-numbing pleasure. The edge of my panties was carelessly pushed aside, and the head of Damon's cock aligned itself with my entrance.

"Did your first time hurt, Elena?" Bonnie asked.

I grit my teeth against the urge to scream as Damon pushed his hips upwards, forcefully joining our bodies. My entrance immediately stretched to accommodate the intrusion, and a new rush of wetness appeared in my pussy.

"Yeah, it hurt. Matt and I didn't really know what we were doing," I said, grinding my teeth. "It's fortunate that you were with someone better prepared."

"You don't have to tell me how lucky I am," Bonnie laughed.

Damon held my hips still, as he pumped his cock upwards into my pussy again and again. The sound of our hips slapping together seemed impossibly loud to me. How did Bonnie not hear and recognize what was happening.

"Just make sure you guys are safe," I said. "Neither of you need a baby running around. I am far too young to be an aunt."

Bonnie's laughter resonated through the telephone. Damon, meanwhile, started to move my hips in a figure eight pattern, hitting every wall in my pussy. Damon pushed my torso backwards so that I was almost folded on top of myself. I used my one free hand against his knee to keep from collapsing. The new angle felt impossibly good and had the added bonus of exposing my pussy to Damon's greedy eyes. Now he was able to watch with avid interest as his cock plunged into my pussy and see the wetness on his member whenever he pulled out.

"No need to worry. Jeremy and I are being extra careful. Probably the only advantage to sleeping with a vampire is that you don't have to worry about that kind of stuff," Bonnie said sagely.

"Yeah, the only advantage!" I almost shrieked.

A particularly wonderful muscle on Damon's torso was rubbing against my clit on every downward thrust, and I started to feel the stirrings of my orgasm. From the frantic way Damon was kissing my neck, I was pretty confident that he was nearing his as well. It was probably well past time that I ended this phone call.

"Bonnie, I need to help Jenna with something. I'll talk to you later."

I didn't wait to see if Bonnie planned to respond before hanging up the phone. I was cumming, and I doubted I would be able to hold back my moans this time. For one glorious moment, my entire being seemed to concentrate in my clit before it exploded outwards. Pleasure tingled throughout my entire being, congregating particularly in my lower body. A slightly cold wetness between my legs signaled that Damon also had found his orgasm.

We slumped together, unable to strike up the desire to actually move from our joined position. The only downside to amazing sex with Damon was that I was always extra tired afterwards, and Damon was a demanding lover. He made sure to leave me extra tired multiple times a day.

"I have to find the energy to move because I need pants. Then I need to go and prep Jenna for when Ric arrives," I mumbled against Damon's broad chest.

"I'm a little scared in all honesty," Damon laughed. "Your aunt is the type to kick first and ask questions later. I might be in danger!"

I rolled my eyes as I stood up and said, "Sometimes you are impossible to take seriously."

A few hours later found me hovering anxiously in the hall, waiting for Alaric and Damon to arrive. I had mentioned to Jenna that tonight would be a good time to discuss how to help Jeremy, and she had absentmindedly agreed. Now, when Alaric arrived, I could claim he was only invited to contribute to the discussion.

The ringing of the doorbell only heightened my nervousness, but I opened the door regardless. To my horror, it was not Alaric or Damon that greeted me, but Travis. Jenna's boyfriend being in attendance had most certainly not been a part of a plan. Damn Damon's inability to plot for every contingency!

"I didn't realize you were stopping by," I said hesitantly. "Are you only here to pick something up or maybe drop something off?"

"No, Jenna invited me for dinner," Travis said in his deep, cultured voice. My hopes that he was only intending to stay for a brief visit dissipated.

"Elena," Jenna said in a gentle reprimand, entering the foyer. "Stop blocking the door and let Travis inside."

I reluctantly moved aside so that Travis could squeeze through the space I left. He gave Jenna a brief peck on the lips and rubbed his hand against her back. Jenna returned the gesture by petting his silver hair.

"I wanted to talk about Jeremy tonight," I said.

Because my timing was horrendous today, Jeremy chose that moment to walk down the stairs. "What's there to talk about me? You haven't spoken to Bonnie have you?"

At his insinuation, a wave of embarrassment swept over me. Travis looked out of place and extremely confused. Jenna, who wasn't sure what Bonnie had to do with anything, simply cocked an eyebrow at her nephew.

"I'll tell you what's there to talk about. Your grades are slipping, Jeremy, and I am not willing to go back down that road with you. The period of leniency has ended, and you need to man up," Jenna barked.

"My grades aren't slipping. I have mostly Bs so far this semester. The guidance counselor called me down just the other day to talk about how I was such an inspiration and a role model on how one can turn their life around," Jeremy said.

I wanted to bash my head against the stair's banister. How could he not know to play along? He should be able to sense what I'm thinking; we are related after all.

Proving that despite everything, there was still more room for timing errors today, Alaric and Damon chose that moment to step up to the still opened door. Jenna's mouth dropped open, and I swear I saw a vein pulse on her forehead.

"What are you doing here?" Jenna demanded in a voice from my worst nightmares.

Alaric looked chagrined, "Did we get here early?"

Damon practically pushed Alaric into the house and closed the door behind them. "Elena asked us to come over to talk about how to improve Jeremy's academics. Even though he has a decent grade in Alaric's class, he needs to get to work in some of his other studies."

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy demanded. "My grades have been consistently going up for the past three months!"

"Alaric?" Travis asked, a hint of hostility edging into his voice. "As in Alaric Saltzman?"

Clearly, Jenna had filled Travis in on her ex-boyfriend. The two men took a moment to size each other up. Both straightened their shoulders and brought themselves up to full height. Neither was particularly adept at looking intimidating. Alaric looked like a washed out surfer, and Travis could pass as a librarian.

"You can feel free to call me Ric," Alaric offered. It was a challenge.

"Nice to meet you, _Ric," _Travis replied.

The two men shook hands in a display of masculine prowess. Their knuckles turned white as they tried to impair the other. As they released each other, they tried to pretend that their hands were uninjured. Travis, however, couldn't stop himself from impulsively flexing, while Alaric remained unmoved. The winner of this round: Alaric Saltzman.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand how you are supposed to help raise Jeremy's grades," Jenna said, gesturing at Damon.

"I don't need to raise my grades!" Jeremy shouted, though he was largely ignored.

Damon shrugged, "Jeremy's looked up to me in the past. I thought I could lend my opinion. Besides, I remember how boozy your dinners get, Jenna. I'm the designated driver."

Just before the scene could become any more chaotic, the ding of the oven timer echoed in from the kitchen. I nearly slumped over in my relief. Saved by the pot-roast!

"I will get that," I volunteered eagerly. "Everyone just take a seat at the table, and I'll be out to serve you shortly."

With a great amount of reluctance, everyone started to file into the kitchen. Travis made sure to drape his arm around Jenna's shoulders in a clear sign of possession. In response, Alaric placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder to emphasize his friendly relationship with Jenna's nephew.

As Damon passed by me, he whispered, "Thanks for throwing me to the wolves."

"Don't mention it," I said cheekily.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Special thanks to my beta Princessrae91285!**

Damon's POV

"Wine?" Elena offered eagerly. She was so nervous that her hand actually trembled. The wine was disturbed by the movement and almost spilled from the bottle.

"I'd like some," Jeremy volunteered.

"I think you mean that you'd like a soda," Jenna chastised. "I, however, could use some more."

"Jenna, I think you've had enough," Travis suggested gently.

I couldn't help but agree with him. Dinner had only been underway for about half an hour, and Jenna was already completely sloshed. Barely a moment passed between each large gulp of wine. Her eyes had taken on a decidedly reddish tinge and her movements were growing increasingly sloppy. No wonder two men were desperately fighting over her.

Despite the truth of Travis's assertion, Jenna did not appear to appreciate his censure, snapping, "Alaric would never tell me to stop drinking."

"That's because _Ric_ is an alcoholic loser," Travis said disdainfully.

Jaws dropped collectively around the table. Apparently Travis had decided that enough was enough. I hoped Alaric slugged him at some point this evening. It would make this entire spectacle worthwhile.

Alaric was denied the opportunity to respond when Elena shoved a spoonful of mash potatoes directly into his mouth. He choked slightly but quickly recovered his bearings in order to glare at Elena. For her part, Elena looked entirely unrepentant.

It was surprisingly Jenna who jumped to Alaric's defense, arguing, "Ric is many things but certainly not an alcoholic."

"Thank you, Jenna," Ric said, real appreciation and gratitude in his voice.

"He's a pathological liar for one," Jenna continued. "But not a drunk."

For a moment, a hesitant hope had started to brew in Alaric's eyes. The belief that Jenna did not believe the worst in him buoyed his confidence. Unfortunately, her second remark had crushed that fragile hope, leaving him more despondent than before.

I was situated across the table from Elena and studied her reaction to the ensuing fiasco. She simply did not possess the scheming gene, which was surprising considering her biological parents. That she hadn't checked to make sure Travis wasn't intending to attend dinner was an incurable error. At most the night could only end with drunken resentment.

Seeing Elena's tense expression, I caressed her calf lightly with my shoe, ending with a playful nudge against her foot. Elena did not respond, so I repeated the action. This time, someone responded, but it was not Elena.

Jeremy, from his seat at the head of the table and to the left of me, gave a little jerk and stared at me incredulously. A surreptitious peek under the table confirmed that Jeremy had his legs stretched out in front of my own.

"Are you trying to play footsie with me?" Jeremy asked disbelievingly.

His question grabbed Elena's attention, and her eyes grew huge with worry. The tight press of her lips told me that she was none too happy, and I had better come up with an excuse. Fast.

"Just commiserating about the whole stuck with soda thing. Being a teenager sucks," I lied.

Jeremy looked unconvinced. Maybe he would brush it off, deciding I was into men. While totally untrue, I felt secure enough in my own masculinity that one pimply teenager's misconceptions wouldn't put a hitch in my confidence.

"Ouch! Did you just kick me?" Jeremy demanded of Elena.

From the panicked look on Elena's face, it was clear that I had been her intended target. My lips twisted smugly at her mistake. See, it wasn't only me that was getting confused at their cramped, little table. It was impossible to tell who was who down there!

"Stop harassing, Damon!" Elena shouted in a crude attempt to cover up her error. "He's our guest."

"Yeah, I can play footsie with whoever I want," I said while staring daringly at Elena. So maybe I didn't want Jeremy thinking I was a closet-case. Sue me.

Jeremy wasn't buying our little act. For the rest of dinner, he scrutinized my every interaction with Elena. I could feel his disapproving gaze drilling holes into my skull. Elena was not oblivious to the attention either, and her stress levels were rocketing as a result.

"Are you sure you won't have any wine, Damon?" Jenna inquired sometime later.

I shook my head at the proffered white wine, "No, thank you. I prefer red."

Alaric snorted at my need to subtly hint at my true nature. It was a bad habit that I gave clues about my vampirism to humans not in the know. No wonder it was the worst kept secret in Mystic Falls.

The table lapsed into uncomfortable silence. There was nothing to say that would salvage the situation, and if we weren't careful a fight would break out. Maybe I should throw Ric and Professor Dick-Face-Travis into an arena and let them duke it out. Winner takes Jenna back to his cave!

Elena stood from the table and mumbled, "Excuse me for a moment."

I tracked her movements with my advanced hearing as she ran up the steps and heard her enter her room. Elena probably needed a good sulk to recover from the disaster that was her matchmaking scheme. I followed after her, trying to ignore how Jeremy suspiciously watched me leave.

As I exited, I heard Alaric say, "So are we going to talk about Jeremy's grades?"

After jogging up the stairs, I found Elena pacing about her bedroom. Every few seconds she ran a hair through her hair – one of her more obvious tells whenever she was stressed. I knew she was aware of my presence, but she was too wrapped up in her own worries to acknowledge me, so I settled with leaning against the doorway.

"This whole thing was a mistake," she admitted a few minutes later.

"Don't get pouty," I ordered.

"I'm not," Elena protested. "I just…I deceived the people I love because I thought it was for the best, but now I'm not so sure. I hardly know what's best for me anymore, so who am I to dictate other people's lives? Maybe Jenna and Travis are soul mates! Why do I keep burdening myself with fixing things for everyone?"

"You're being too hard on yourself. Jenna broke up with Alaric because she thought he lied about Isobel. You blame yourself, and now you're trying to fix it. That's not you being selfish or domineering," I said.

"I feel like all I ever do is lie to people," Elena sighed.

We were no longer only talking about Jenna and Alaric. This was about lying to everyone about our relationship. Elena was at heart a very honest and upfront person. To be burdened with so many secrets was starting to weigh on her.

I sat down on the bed and pulled her onto my lap. Elena wriggled a little bit in defiance before settling down. With soft lips, I placed delicate kisses in her hair. The comforting gestures slowly forced her to relax in my arms.

"You never need to lie to me. We have no secrets from each other. To me, Elena Gilbert, you are an open book."

Elena twisted a little bit so that we could kiss. My hand tangled in her hair and angled her neck to allow me to kiss her more deeply. I had intended for it to only be a short peck, but Elena was pouring a heady amount of emotion into the kiss. It was during moments like these that I convinced myself that Elena actually loved me.

Unable to resist, I opened my mouth in order to taste her sweetness. Elena's pleasured mewls escaped between her parted lips and were swallowed up by my plundering mouth. I ground the heel of my hand against her jean-covered crotch. It glided over the denim ridge atop her clitoris, creating much appreciated friction.

"We don't have time for this," Elena protested breathlessly.

"That's what you always say," I teased, moving my hand in circles over her hidden clit. "Besides, _we_ may not have time, but _you_ definitely do. Let me take care of you, baby."

I smoothed her hair tenderly and could see in her eyes the moment she relented. Her body relaxed, muscles uncoiling and head resting limply against my shoulder. She became in many ways a doll, the child-sized antique dolls that reminded me of my childhood neighbors. They always had the saddest expressions on their perfectly painted faces. The dolls were completely vulnerable. Little girls would manipulate their porcelain limbs into a variety of poses, preying on that vulnerability. It was as if Elena, like these dolls, no longer had control of her own limbs. She submitted herself to me entirely in order to be moved about into the position of my choice.

I moved her about so that she sat sideways on my lap; I wanted to be able to kiss her lush lips. My hand found its way between her legs again as I placed the first kiss to her waiting mouth. My hand pressed firmly between her legs, providing the pressure she would need in order to find pleasure. Unerring circles against Elena's clit made her eyes flutter closed, the tips of her eyelashes just brushing the smooth expanse of her cheekbone.

With deft hands, I moved her again so that she straddled my leg, her sex firmly pressed against my thigh. She immediately buried her face against my shoulder. I could feel the breath from her little sighs raising the hair on my neck. My hands weaved through her hair, combing through the silky strands.

An outsider might deem our position completely innocent. After all we were completely clothed, and I appeared to be consoling her as much as seducing her. And, in many ways, I was. In terms of her emotions, Elena possessed a guilelessness remaining from childhood. The transition from youthful innocence to maturity had not ruined her honest emotional responses. She was still so young. It was shocking sometimes to remember that she was only eighteen. Yet, in terms of her beguiling sexuality, she was all woman.

My hands found her rounded hips and pressed her more firmly against my leg. Back and forth she grinded against me until her breath became labored, harsh gasps sounding in my ears. When she came it was nothing dramatic, just a little whimper and a wilting of her body. A dry grind was not going to end with one of the most amazing orgasms of Elena's life, but it was satisfying both mentally and physically.

When Elena pulled away, tiny, crystalline beads clinging to her eyelashes caught my attention. She was crying. Perhaps it was a mistake to attempt to solve her problems with sex. It might have confused and further upset her. My only goal was to create some semblance of closeness that she could cling to, and I had fucked that up brilliantly.

"Thank you," Elena whispered, dripping sincerity.

Or perhaps I hadn't messed up as badly as I thought.

Evidence that she had been crying still lingered in the hoarseness of her voice as Elena continued, "I think I really needed that. And I know that I can be honest with you. I'm starting to think that's the most important, happy thing in my world right now."

Perhaps her declaration was a little melodramatic, but it meant the world to me. To think that I was the center of her universe like she was mine was appealing. Yes, she had so much more than me in terms of friends and family, but she still needed me. In her eyes, I was not disposable.

A year ago when every day was filled with the terror of someone dying, of Klaus or Katherine killing the people she cared most about, Elena remained shockingly resilient. She rarely broke down and was not prone to spending her spare time bemoaning her fate. She stayed strong merely out of necessity. Now that life had slowed down and she was allowed to be a young woman again, it was relieving to see her act her age and be weak for once.

"You know, we don't need to have so many secrets," I suggested, speaking slowly as one would to avoid spooking a horse.

"I know that you think we should tell everyone about us but I'm just not ready," Elena said immediately, completely ready for an argument.

"That's not what I'm talking about," I said. "If you want fewer secrets, then let's talk to Jenna. Tell her about Isobel. The truth. And tell her about vampires. I'll help and flash some fangs so that she doesn't think you're a nutter."

"We can't do that!" Elena protested. "She'll feel so betrayed!"

"Learning you knew Isobel was alive was a betrayal too. Justifying that might make you feel better, and laying it all on the table will make your life a whole lot simpler," I argued.

Elena stared at me incredulously, but I could see the stirrings of hope in her eyes. Hope that my crazy suggestion might actually alleviate the situation and make things bearable once again. This tentative hope was evident in her voice when she asked, "Are we really doing this?"

"Yeah," I replied. "We really are."

Elena stood up and made to walk downstairs, but I stopped her. I meticulously straightened her shirt, combed through the more tangled knots of her hair, and wiped the tears that had collected under her eyes. She remained silent throughout, letting me fuss over her. Even though she didn't say anything, I could sense how much she appreciated that I cared.

Hand in hand we walked downstairs. There was a terrifying sense of approaching the gallows with each heavy step, but I pulled Elena along, refusing to let her pussy out. When we started to come into view of the family, Elena dropped my hand like it was on fire. So we were still keeping some secrets.

Everyone looked at us when we walked in, curious about where we had disappeared to. Jenna and Alaric sported matching expressions of curiosity and faint condemnation. Travis looked politely interested if not indifferent, and Jeremy's face was screwed up in blatant suspicion.

Realizing Elena was not going to say anything, I stepped in, "Jenna, Elena and I would like to talk to you about some family matters. If you don't mind, could Travis perhaps join us some other time?"

"And Ric can stay of course. He's practically a member of the family anyway!" Travis sniped, affronted.

Jenna laid a reassuring hand on his arm and asked, "What could you two possibly have to talk about that Travis can't hear?"

I paused for a beat, not quite sure what to say. Travis could not learn the truth; there had to be a way to make him leave. For all my usual cunning, however, I was having trouble creating an excuse on the spot. Surprisingly, Elena saved the day.

"We're pregnant," she blurted out, turning tomato red in embarrassment.

Jenna, who was quite a bit drunk, dropped her wine glass. The liquid splashed across the table and partially onto Travis's white button-down. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung upon in horror. It seemed Elena's explanation worked well for Travis, because he seemed more than happy to leave now. He practically leapt up from the table, muttering excuses and condolences as he bolted for the door. Alaric and Jeremy just watched us in confusion, well aware that Damon's little swimmers were out of commission.

At this point, Jenna came alive in a frightening manner. "What the hell were you two thinking? There's a little thing called protection! At any time I would have gotten you some! You're barely eighteen and still in high school. You don't know the first thing about raising a baby. I don't know the first thing about raising a baby! And you, Damon, are way too old for her! Was this going on before she came of age?"

"We're not pregnant," I interjected, deciding to stop Jenna before she really picked up steam. "We lied in order to get rid of Travis."

"Don't scare me like that!" Jenna shouted, clearly still worked up.

"Guys, what's going on?" Jeremy asked.

"Jenna, we've been lying to you for a while. All of us," Elena said. She knew it needed to be her to tell Jenna the truth. "Stefan and Damon aren't normal. Neither was Isobel or Logan Fell. They were vampires."

It was so straightforward and to the point. Instead of dancing around the subject she simply said what needed to be said. I admired Elena in that moment. When the moment arrived, she always found the bravery to do what was necessary.

Jenna took a couple of moments to process the news. Then she let out a little bleat, which quickly turned into a full-fledged fit of giggles. She could hardly control herself. The giggles transformed into belly laughs, and soon there were actual tears in the corners of her eyes.

"You have completely cracked," she gasped between gales of laughter.

Her laughter cut off rather abruptly when I allowed my fangs to appear. Jenna stared in shock at the red veins surrounding my eyes, the strange dilation of my pupils, and the two long, white teeth that jutted slightly out from my parted lips.

"What is this?" Jenna whispered.

"Damon is a vampire. So was Stefan," Elena said, speaking simply so as not to frighten her aunt. "All of the animal attacks have been vampire victims. It wasn't Stefan or Damon of course. For a while there were other vampires in town."

Smart move to pretend I wasn't a murderer. That probably would not sit well. Jeremy looked like he wanted to say something, but I glared at him menacingly. He would probably insist on telling Jenna the truth about my part in Vicki's death. Who could blame the kid for holding a grudge?

"Other vampires turned Logan into a vampire too, and he went crazy and started killing people. He tried to murder Caroline, so the police put him down. Vicki also became a vampire and tried to kill me, so Stefan staked her. Caroline became a vampire after her car accident. You remember – the one that happened the same day Mayor Lockwood died. She is still the same Caroline though," Elena explained.

Jenna was crying by this point. The multitude of truths were piling up on her shoulders, and she seemed to shrink under the weight of them. Elena wrapped her arms around Jenna's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She rubbed Jenna's arms aggressively as if trying to stave off the cold.

"When I went off Wickery Bridge with my parents, Stefan was the one who saved me," Elena whispered in her ear. "I didn't know it at the time, but I learned after we started dating."

"What else haven't you been telling me?" Jenna asked brokenly, her red, swollen eyes gazing at Elena imploringly.

"Well, Bonnie's a witch," Elena said. "She's known that for a little over a year. I have a vampire doppelganger named Katherine who, as doppelgangers do, looks exactly like me. That night on the porch where you thought you saw me and Damon kissing, it was Katherine. She's the one who cut off John's fingers."

Jenna almost seemed relieved by this revelation. She could now rest easier knowing her niece was not making kissy faces with me, and Jenna now knew the identity of the mysterious person who had broken into her house and attacked John. That must have been a mystery that haunted her.

"There's something else," Elena said, causing Jenna's eyebrows to rise with alarm. How much more could there possibly be? "The most powerful vampire in the world wants to kill me. His name is Klaus and basically, he wants to sacrifice me in a dark ritual in order to become even more powerful. It's because I'm the doppelganger. But we are okay. There are only four people outside of Mystic Falls that know the truth –Stefan, Katherine, John, and Isobel, – and they will all keep their mouths shut."

"Are you in danger?" Jenna demanded frantically.

"I've got it under control," I said calmly. "I am keeping her safe, Jenna."

"If you want to know about Isobel…that's Ric's story to tell," Elena said, looking at an until this point silent Alaric. "I think you owe it to him to listen to his side of the story."

I subtly motioned to Jeremy that we should give Ric and Jenna some privacy. For once in his life, Jeremy acted like he had two IQ points to rub together and actually picked up on my hinting. He stood up from his seat at the dining room table and followed Elena and I into the foyer.

"What brought that on?" Jeremy asked in a harsh whisper, once we were out of the room.

"This entire dinner was a pathetic attempt at reconciling Alaric and Jenna," Elena admitted. "But it wasn't working. I realized or I should say Damon realized that the only thing which will make everything right is the truth."

"What if she decides that we can't be around Bonnie, Caroline, or Damon anymore because they're dangerous? What then? And you didn't even mention Tyler Lockwood," Jeremy argued.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the wolf boy," I laughed.

"I can't imagine all of her questions are answered. We can explain more over the next few days. And as to her banning all supernatural creatures from the house…we'll tackle that hurdle when the time comes," Elena said decidedly.

"You two might be absolutely crazy," Jeremy announced.

"Crazy but honest," Elena said. "And that feels kind of amazing right now."

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Jeremy asked me.

"No, Jeremy. I cannot hear a word," I said snarkily. "Of course I can hear what they're saying. Alaric's telling her the novel length version right now. He's still going on and on about Isobel's obsession with vampires when she was alive."

"He's setting the tone of his story. He needs her to understand why he deceived her for so long," Elena defended.

"Whatever," Jeremy replied eloquently. "I'm going to call Bonnie and tell her what's going on."

"Jeremy, congratulations on Bonnie and the bow-chicka-wow-wow," I called after Jeremy's retreating figure, throwing in a pelvic thrust for good measure.

"Dick!" he shouted as he ran up the stairs.

Elena gave me a less than pleased look but I ignored it. We were finally alone again. I pulled her into my arms, and kissed the top of her head. The great revelation had been emotionally taxing and was far from over, but it had been necessary. Jenna's ignorance would no longer weigh on Elena's conscience.

"Are you going to be okay without me?" I asked her.

"Yeah," Elena sighed. "Jenna's going to need me tonight. But I'll see you tomorrow."

"If you say so," I agreed.

I opened the front door and walked out onto the porch. Elena watched me start to leave from the still open doorway. She looked so tired that I was worried about leaving her, but I figured she would make it through the night.

"Damon!" Elena called, stopping me in my tracks. "I love you."

There was not a thought in my head after her declaration. My mind was completely and eerily empty. It was incredible. My feet moved without my mind fully realizing what was happening, and then, I was kissing her. Elena's arms were wrapped around my neck, her little fingernails scratching through my hair. My hands cupped her face, holding her to me tightly. Her soft lips on mine were the only anchor to the world I had in that moment.

We kissed and kissed and kissed. Sometimes they were sweet but searing kisses, our mouths closed and our lips practically glued together. Other times we seemed intent on choking one another with the sheer amount of tongue, moving with barely any rhythm. But other times it was like art. We moved together in synchronization, titillating one another's senses. It was heaven.

And there was something poetic about this occurring on the porch. The same porch where Katherine had tricked me into thinking Elena cared for me so long ago. The same porch where Elena had told me she would never forgive me for killing Jeremy. All of those past events meant nothing now. We were starting gloriously anew with only the memories of the good things between us.

When we finally broke apart, I whispered, "I love you too."

It felt like a grievous understatement to simply say the words so many insincere people would use throughout their lives. I wanted to say how much she meant to me. How what I had felt for Katherine would never compete with what we had. How every bit of kindness she had ever showed me had combined to make me the man I was today. How I could just watch her from afar and be happy simply because she was so radiant to look upon. But I couldn't, not today. Fortunately, we had tomorrow.

"I always imagined that I would whisk you off to bed after this," I said hoarsely. "Not that I really thought you would ever say it. We will celebrate this properly tomorrow."

"I'll call you," Elena whispered back.

With one last sweet, little kiss, I left her. As I walked to my car, I felt that for once we were going to be okay. This wasn't a brief dalliance for either of us. At this point we were playing for keeps, and I had every intention of keeping Elena Gilbert forever.

**A/N: Yay for love!  
There have been rumors that ff-net is going to purge stories that have really mature material, which as you all know includes mine. In the event this happens to my stories, I will move to adultfanfiction .net with the username Auntleona0. Let's hope this never happens, but if it does, you'll know where to find me.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So I'm doing the shameful self-promotion thing this chapter. The first two chapters of my new story 'Love Amongst the Gods' is up, and I encourage you all to read it because I promise eventual Delena smexiness.**

**One of my bestest friends in the real world wrote a fan-fic under the penname Mrs. C. N. Riddle called Godric. If you're a Harry Potter fan who likes angsty fanfics, I highly suggest you check it out, because I edited the whole thing (she has it completely finished so no slow updates), and it's brilliantly written.**

**A huge thanks to my beta Princessrae91285!**

**Enjoy!**

For one terrible moment, I was unsure about where I was. Someone's toes were wiggling against my calf, and I could not begin to remember going to bed with anyone the night before. Besides, I was intimately familiar with every inch of Damon's anatomy including his toes, and these were certainly not his. Cautiously, so as not to wake the other person, I eased onto my side. It was a relief to realize that my unknown bedmate was Jenna. I must have fallen asleep while consoling her.

I studied her face, looking for any sign that she might be trapped in a nightmare. Given the revelations of the night before, I would not be surprised if Jenna was dreaming of rampaging vampires. She seemed deceptively calm. Her face was relaxed, lips slightly parted. There was no twitchiness behind her eyelids that suggested distress either.

"Jenna," I whispered, shaking her shoulder gently. "Time to wake up."

Blinking heavily, Jenna rejoined the world of the living. She seemed as confused as I was upon finding me curled up in bed with her. Her eyes darted about the room as if hoping the walls would supply the answers.

"Oh God. Last night actually happened, didn't it?" Jenna gasped.

"Unfortunately yes," I agreed. "We should probably talk about what all of this means."

Jenna was silent for a long moment before speaking, "I just don't know why all of you kept this from me."

"We were just trying to protect you."

"But that's not your job!" Tears collected in Jenna's eyes, though from rage or sorrow I could not tell. "I am supposed to take care of you, and I can't do that if you keep secrets from me. Now that I understand everything that's been happening, I feel utterly useless. I'm such a waste of space."

"You're not a waste of space! I know that what we did was wrong, which is why I told you the truth. Our relationship is important to me. I hated having to be dishonest to you," I said sincerely.

Jenna sat up against the pillows and looked down at me. She seemed well rested physically but emotionally she was tired. It was visible in the crease between her eyebrows.

"Things need to change around here," Jenna said more sternly than I knew was possible. Her tone was usually more accepting and kind. ""Your safety is my priority, so when something happens I need to be told."

"Absolutely! There hasn't been danger in almost a year. But if anything comes up, I will tell you immediately," I promised.

Jenna seemed slightly appeased, "You're sure that it is safe to be around Caroline and Damon?"

I hesitated for only a moment. I had just promised to be completely honest with Jenna but I could not admit that Caroline and Damon had a history of murder. Jeremy's warning that Jenna might forbid contact with vampires was fresh in my mind. Instead of the undiluted truth, I said, "They're completely harmless."

Jenna sighed with relief, "Well that's settled for now then."

"Did you sort anything out with Alaric," I asked.

"He still lied, but I understand Ric's point of view," Jenna said. "I can't just leave Travis for Alaric though. That would be completely unfair."

"You're allowed to do whatever makes you happiest, Jenna, and if that's Alaric, then you should go for it," I urged.

"Sometimes life's just not that simple," Jenna hedged.

"That's a cop out and you know it," I argued. "We can't live trying to please everyone else. Being selfish occasionally isn't a crime."

Jenna didn't answer, so I took that as a sign that our conversation was finished. I just needed to freshen up before I headed out. I was pretty eager to see Damon today. Even more so than usual.

"I'm going to shower and then head out. Are you okay?" I checked.

"Have fun. Don't get eaten by vampires," Jenna deadpanned. I was pretty happy that she was already making jokes about vampires. Of course, then I realized she was not joking. _Right_.

I kissed Jenna's forehead and headed for the bathroom. I showered and dressed in record time. Unfortunately, there was no way to hurry the process of straightening my hair, so I was stuck standing in front of the mirror for fifteen minutes. Makeup was a five minute affair, and then I was ready to rush out the door.

As I walked out the door, I glanced around for Jeremy but he must have been out with friends or Bonnie. I started searching my bag for my keys once I reached my car. They had somehow wedged themselves into the deepest crevice of my purse, so it took me a few minutes to actually find them. As I clicked the unlock button, I was struck by the oddest sensation. I couldn't shake the bizarre feeling that I was being watched. A year ago that would be my cue to scream and rush into the house, but my paranoia was a little less warranted these days.

I scanned the neighborhood for anyone suspicious, but no one seemed to be out. Instead of reassuring me, it actually spiked my anxiety. The uneasy sensation that I was the object of someone's curiosity wasn't wearing off, and that I could not see who was studying me was cause for concern.

Right when I was ready to enter true panic mode, a cat purred near my feet. I was so hyper-sensitized that I actually shrieked. A stray cat was hiding in the bushes less than six feet away from me. That a cat could incite such fear in me was not a good sign for my mental health. Feeling extremely stupid, I got in my car and drove away leaving Jenna and the cat far behind.

I arrived ten minutes later on the Salvatore doorstep. I knocked twice then contented myself to waiting. The first time I visited the boarding house, I had wondered about the lack of doorbell. Yes, it fit the vintage décor of the house but it had not seemed very practical. Now it made perfect sense. Why would a vampire with super human hearing need something as irrelevant as a doorbell?

Damon opened the door, and I was struck by how devastatingly handsome he was. His black, button-up hung loose and open, revealing the toned perfection of his abs. But it was not his admittedly mouth-watering body that captured my attention but rather his face. Even his most debauched smirk –which he was delivering to great effect – could not disguise the eagerness in his eyes.

"Hi, there," Damon said. "Come in."

He squeezed to the side in order to allow me enough room to enter. His hand found the small of my back and guided me into the house. I let him gently push me into the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" Damon asked.

"A little bit," I answered honestly.

Damon rummaged through the fridge and tossed me an apple. The skin was slippery and almost slipped through my fingers, but I managed to catch it firmly before it dropped to the floor in what I thought was a rather impressive display of coordination. Damon grabbed some wine as well as two glasses from the cupboard, and then joined me at the table. He poured me a glass, before doing the same for himself. Always the consummate gentleman.

I took a sip and blanched, almost spitting some of the bitter liquid out of my mouth, "Oh God that is disgusting!"

"You only think so because you have no taste in wine," Damon disagreed, as he expertly swirled the wine around, sniffing it before taking a sip. "You're revealing your age, Elena."

"Shut up!" I protested. "It's gross!"

"As fascinating as your poorly developed palette is, let's talk about last night. Maybe you want to repeat something…" Damon hedged playfully.

I squinted my eyes as if searching for a memory, "Let's see what did we talk about? We talked a lot about Jenna."

"Not quite what I was thinking."

"Is it about Jeremy's poor school performance? Maybe my sad history of lies?"

"You know, you're really not as funny as you like to imagine," Damon said grumpily."

"I beg to differ," I laughed. "I am hilarious. Everyone always tells me so."

"That's because you're cute. The words I was thinking of, well, there were three of them, one syllable each," Damon said.

"You are hot," I said, raking my eyes down his body with clear appraisal.

Damon shrugged, "Obviously, but again not quite what I was aiming for when I asked."

I grabbed his hand off the countertop. It was warm even though he had just been rooting through a refrigerator, even though his blood had long ago ceased flowing unprompted like that of a normal man. With gentle fingertips, I traced the calluses that decorated his hands, making them rough and oh-so-pleasurable when he employed them against me.

"Maybe I love you," I whispered.

"You know, I always thought so," Damon teased lightly, but the levity in his voice was all but eclipsed by the hesitant joy he was trying to suppress.

He combed through my hair with his free hand, caressing my cheek and tickling the shell of my ear. It would have been soothing if not for the stirrings of arousal it created. The man had a funny way of igniting my libido simply by existing.

"It's probably redundant, but just in case you've never noticed, I love you too," Damon confessed, reaffirming his sentiments from last night.

"I love you more," I said with a saccharine smile.

"I highly doubt that."

He was not joking. No matter how much I grew to love and appreciate Damon, I would never feel for him as strongly as he did for me. A measly eighteen years had been enough time for me to find not one but two true loves. In over a century, Damon was only now just finding the same. His previous dedication to Katherine alone proved how highly he valued love. I would never fully comprehend what having your love repeatedly and methodically rejected felt like, how it molded a person.

To admit my feelings did not equal Damon's, was not to suggest my own emotions were lacking in magnitude. Damon embodied the role of friend and lover more perfectly than I could have ever hoped. Without anyone having ever pressured me, I felt compelled to maintain a certain image at all times. An image of selfless purity. Damon was one of the few if not the only person who could coax me into revealing myself, that I am not always altruistic and kind but also selfish and needlessly cruel. He had my utmost trust and was never far away when I needed someone to lean on. In fact, Damon's friendship had become the foundation of my sense of self. He saw me from every angle, perceived of my countless flaws, yet still found me worthy of his admiration.

Our forays into the physical had ensured that I would never consider him a mere friend again. He mastered my body and used his skill to bring me pleasure, pushing his desires aside until mine were fulfilled. I had been wrong when I originally came to him for help, believing that sex between us could be a detached affair. It wasn't. We were hot, scalding even. Our every touch was premeditated in the hope of burning the other, stripping them bare until nothing but their honest core remained. Sex had only connected us more strongly, tied us together in a complicated sailor's knot that neither of us had the desire nor the inclination to attempt to unravel.

No. My feelings for Damon were legitimate and not to be underestimated.

"Let's go upstairs," I said suggestively.

Damon nodded and walked with me to the foot of the stairs. We held hands, neither leading the other. We simply craved the slight contact of clasped hands.

"One thing, Elena, the moments where you would usually scream my name in ecstasy, feel free to replace them with I love yous."

He was so cocky but it was deserved, so I decided to keep my mouth shut and follow him up the stairs. Hands on my hips, he backed me into the bedroom. Damon's lips descended onto mine in a wet kiss. He managed to keep our lips partially attached even as we walked backward. We stumbled slightly and collapsed onto the bed, Damon's weight settling heavily atop me. He switched his balance onto his forearms so the weight would be less crushing. Regardless, I was still aware of the sculpted body hovering less than an inch above mine.

Our lips caressed one another's intimately. Damon was extremely dominant today. His tongue plundered my mouth, scraping along my teeth. A particularly effective swipe of his tongue against mine made me gasp into his mouth. As he pulled away, a small strand of saliva connected us for a brief second before breaking.

Damon sat up and dramatically unbuttoned one of his only clasped buttons. The smug expression on his face mixed with the melodramatic way he undressed made me burst out laughing.

"I won't strip if you laugh at me," Damon pouted.

"No, please continue."

"I no longer feel comfortable. I'm too embarrassed."

"Damon…what's your middle name?" I asked, realizing he had never divulged his full name.

"Thaddeus," he grumbled.

"Thaddeus?" I giggled.

"It was the 1800s, and Thaddeus was considered a perfectly respectable name," Damon defended, blushing for the first time I could remember since meeting him.

"I'm sorry. Yes, Thaddeus is a lovely name. Damon Thaddeus Salvatore, I love you. Will you strip for me?" I said as sincerely as possible.

"Only if you give me a show first," Damon countered with a shark-like grin.

He was such a schemer. As I scrambled off the bed, Damon leaned back and settled himself comfortably against the headboard. Without my realizing, Damon had swindled me into performing a striptease.

There was virtually no way to take off one's shoes and pants without looking like an idiot. I kicked my shoes off without any frills but added a little shimmy when I removed my jeans, hoping I wasn't boring Damon. Once that ordeal was completed, I felt my confidence return. I moved my hips back and forth, teasing the hem of my top higher. Damon's eyes were riveted to each glimpse of toned navel, willing the shirt to disappear completely. Not wanting to deny him, I pulled my shirt off entirely and tossed it aside carelessly.

My hip movements became more pronounced, swirling in controlled figure-eights. I lowered the straps of my bra off each arm so that the bra was only held up by the back clasp. I raised my arms above my head, stretching my spine. With light touches, I grazed my hand along my elevated arm and brought them both back to waist level. I stroked my neck and arched my back. The bra slipped down enough to reveal my tightened nipples. Quickly unclasping my bra, I whipped it away to expose the remainder of my breasts. A tiny black thong was now the only clothing on my swaying body.

I brushed my fingertips across stiff nipples and cupped my breasts in my hands. The motion did not illicit any real power, but I knew if Damon performed the same actions upon me, the sensation would be magnified and undoubtedly wonderful. Just thinking about his hands replacing mine was enough to add a needed edge to my performance.

I dipped my fingers into the edge of my panties and started to edge them down my body. Turning around, I bent at the waist to provide a better angle for the final reveal. Stepping out of it quickly, my thong was finally removed.

I twisted at the waist and covered my breasts coquettishly. I grinned enormously at him and giggled. There was denying that such a performance was a power rush. Damon was utterly captivated, and it was always fun to entrance him like he so often did me.

"Your turn."

"My pleasure," Damon purred, easing off the bed.

He reached out and traced the curve of my left side from breast to hip. With the same hand, he gently pushed me so that I was sitting on the bed. When he started moving his hips in the same motion I had previously, I was a tad annoyed. I gave him a serious show, and he damn well better return the favor. Fortunately, his exaggerated hip swings subsided.

Instead, he started rocking his hips forwards and back, emphasizing his lower anatomy quite effectively. Only the two lowest buttons of his shirt were still in place, so the majority of his defined torso was on display. Those buttons didn't last long. He shrugged out of his shirt, letting it join my fallen clothes on the floor. I definitely appreciated the ability to freely ogle his arms. He had such amazingly muscular arms. It had to be the way the muscle bulged before connecting with his powerful shoulders that made them so lovely. Every slight flexing motion of his biceps emphasized the matching, pale blue veins running up his arms.

I took the moment to admire the impeccable formation of his abdomen. His pectorals were large and, if memory served, extremely firm. The ridges of his six-pack just begged to be traced with fingers or tongue. You could get lost in all the little indents that he must have worked so hard to achieve in his youth. The smooth expanse of his lower stomach was flat, like do a hand off of that perfectly flat surface flat. The sinful lines of his hipbones peeked through the top of the ridiculously low pants he seemed to favor. I should objectify Damon for my pleasure more often. This was kind of awesome.

With little hip rolls, Damon stalked forward until he was directly in front of me, his crotch positioned in front of my face. Feeling a little devious, I leaned forward and unbuttoned his pants, dragging the zipper down with my teeth. The pants disappeared in a flash of movement too quick for my eyes to perceive. I was a little disappointed to miss the pants sliding down his muscular thighs, but I was pretty happy to now have a visual of said thighs and decided not to comment. The tightest and possibly tiniest briefs I had ever seen encased his manhood and the tops of his legs.

Damon rolled his hips forward and back, letting his contained cock rub against my cheek. I was sure that if anyone else did this, I would be overwhelmed with mirth, but this was Damon. He had an odd way of exuding sexuality in any situation. For a move that should have come off as cheesy or degrading, he was pulling it off to a rather spectacular effect.

He peeled down his boxers, his cock springing free immediately. It bounced against his hard stomach before standing straight at attention. His boxers fell to the floor, and we were now both blessedly naked.

Damon yanked me to my feet and wrapped his arms around my back, pressing my body tightly against his. My breasts flattened against his chest, nipples scratching against skin. I propelled myself upwards off the balls of my feet, wrapping my legs securely around his waist. It was hardly an inconvenience to Damon, who took the surprise of the sudden weight with aplomb. He gripped my ass tightly, digging his fingernails slightly into my ass cheeks.

I managed to squeeze my hand between our tightly pressed bodies and find his cock. With sure hands I led it to the opening of my pussy. When just the tip was inside, I arched backwards and slid my hips down, encasing him inside of me. Damon hissed at finally being inside of me, and I grimaced in pleasured agony against his chest.

Damon guided my movements up and down, so that his cock slid slowly in and out of my wet pussy. I flung my arms around his neck, trying to gain some control in a world that was rapidly falling apart. Seeing that his neck was easily accessible in my current position, I decided to attack with a vengeance. I nipped, kissed, and sucked along the slope of his neck. Where his neck gradually ended marking the start of his chest, I left a particularly brutal hickey. It healed almost immediately, but there had to be some disadvantages to fucking a vampire. Non-sticking hickeys were probably worth the amazing sex in the long run.

Bending at the knees, Damon leaned over so that I was hovering perpendicular about two feet off the bed. Only the hand splayed along my back and my legs tightly wrapped around his back were preventing me from falling. See perk of vampire sex. He started to fuck me faster, making my body bounce. It was a tad disconcerting. Being fucked with nothing to anchor me, left me in a constant state of worry. My brain insisted that at any moment I was going to lose control and drop onto the bed, even though I had complete trust in Damon's abilities. I needed to resign myself and place my well being entirely in Damon's hands. That in and of itself was kind of hot.

When my orgasm rushed over me, I realized that the odd suspension was actually a gift. Being so utterly out of control only made me cum harder. My legs twitched erratically, and Damon had to grip me with his other hand to prevent me from falling entirely. I groaned and gasped until I had finished completely. That Damon did not seem even near finished was cause for both fear and anticipation.

He shifted his weight so that we were straight up again and kissed me fiercely. Any post-orgasm haziness quickly disappeared. I met him with lips, teeth, and tongue, intent on devouring him. I felt a fang move harshly against my tongue and realized his vampiric nature was showing. What would have normally made me worried now only turned me on more. I found the sharp fang with my tongue and pressed against it until it sliced slightly into the slick muscle. When the tang of my blood reached Damon's taste buds he went wild.

We collapsed onto the bed. I was on my hands and knees before I fully realized we had moved. I reached between my slick lower lips and spread them open in invitation. Damon pushed back inside my pussy without prompting. He pounded into my vulnerable body without restraint. The strength and speed of his thrusts was impossible. No human could replicate such speed or power. He was in danger of hurting me, bumping against my cervix consistently, yet I could not summon the proper concern. It felt oddly wonderful.

While one hand dug deeply into my hip, the other wound into my long hair. He wrenched my hair backwards as if it were a leash, forcing my head to lift and my back to arch. The new angle was even more magnificent. The head of his cock brushed against my g-spot, making me scream with a kind of savage joy. One finger trailed down my back, and my body was so sensitive that the delicate touch alone was enough to rack my body with delicious shivers.

His cock slid out of my now dripping cunt when I scrambled off my hands. Still facing away from him, I sat on his cock. My pussy greeted his dick like an old friend. Engaging the muscles in my legs, I lowered myself up and down rapidly. My hips swiveled in circles, ensuring that he would brush against every desperate inch of my insides.

I reached backwards with my arms and wrapped them around his neck. It made the position even more intimate. Now if I turned my hand a fraction to the side, I could stare into Damon's intense eyes. Whether it was the incredible feeling of his cock inside me or his gaze that hurtled me into an orgasm was debatable. Regardless, my second orgasm arrived, slightly less powerful than the first but still satisfying. Damon stared riveted at the way my lips parted into a perfect 'o' and my pupils dilated past the point of seeing.

My legs tired quickly, and when my rhythm started to falter, Damon took charge. He held my hips still so that he could thrust unhindered into my sweet pussy. My last orgasm had left me drowsy. Damon sensed this and started to rub my clit furiously. I screeched at the unexpected stimulation, and my walls fluttered spasmodically.

"Oh, God!" I cried desperately. "Bite me!"

I could not specify what made me ask for him to bite me. He had not fed from me since that night in Atlanta. Yet, my body desired for him to pierce me in more ways than one.

If Damon hesitated, he hid it well. His fangs sunk into my skin without preparation, penetrating the flesh of my neck. It hurt terribly because he had pierced a vein. He barely needed to suck at the wound as my blood flowed rapidly. My vision grew hazy.

The combination of blood loss, clitoral stimulation, and his furiously pumping cock made me cum again, and this time I was not stopping. Tears leaked from my eyes and trailed down my face, smearing my makeup. Damon had to hold my waist tightly to prevent me from collapsing.

"I love you so much! Damon…fuck…I love you!" I screamed.

Just when I thought I would lose consciousness, Damon stopped rubbing my clit. His newly bleeding wrist – how and when he had cut it was beyond me – pressed against my lips. Healing blood flooded my mouth. It had a slightly unpleasant tang, but I swallowed obediently.

My orgasm had started to fade, but the introduction of his blood into my system sparked new life into me. It reared its wonderful, pleasurable head once again. I thrust my hips downward frantically, loving the way it stimulated my clit. I was making all kinds of noises, but I barely realized what was coming out of my mouth. I never wanted it to stop.

Damon started cursing vehemently and growled, "I love you, baby!"

"I love you…I love you…I love you," I gasped against his bleeding wrist. A bit of blood dribbled out of my mouth and slid down my chin to mingle with my fallen tears.

A rush of hot liquid invaded my pussy, signaling that Damon was cumming. We both stilled for one incredibly powerful moment where we were one in our pleasure. Then, I finally collapsed forward, landing on my stomach on the cushy bed. Damon fell into place beside me, and we both lay practically comatose. The only sign we were conscious was our heavy breathing.

In the aftermath, my pussy was incredibly sore. He had given me a pounding unlike anything I had ever experienced. When I finally regained control over my still twitching limbs – it really had been one hell of an extended orgasm– I intended to take a hot shower. His semen was dribbling down my thighs, not the most comfortable sensation in the world.

"You two are certainly good for a show," a voice drawled from the doorway. What made it all the more disturbing was that it was my voice.

I scrambled for the covers, pulling them up to my chin in a desperate attempt to maintain some modesty. Damon helped by throwing his arm out to cover a small area of my body. He did not seem overly concerned with his own nudity.

Katherine stood, leaning against the doorway with the most self-satisfied expression I had ever witnessed on either of our faces. Her hair was impeccably curled, brunette waves cascading past her breasts. My normally straight hair was a wreck, curling in all directions and sticking to my sweaty skin. Where Katherine was dressed in provocative but clearly expensive clothing, I lay naked with cum drying on my things. Where Katherine's skin was unblemished and tan, I was red from exertion with various scratches decorating my body. It was not a pleasant comparison to be confronted with at the moment.

"You know when I followed you here, I wasn't expecting…this," Katherine sneered.

"You were at my house?" I questioned, panicked. My mind flashed to Jenna who was defenseless at home.

"Yes, you're ridiculously easy to tail. You should try being more cautious," Katherine said.

"What are you doing here?" Damon demanded.

He stood up, positioning himself in front of me, so that he slightly blocked me from view. The tenseness in his muscles suggested he was ready to spring into action at the smallest provocation. Katherine's eyes dropped briefly to the softening cock between his thighs, and an irrational surge of jealousy ran through me. I had to remind myself that it was nothing she hadn't seen before just so I didn't leap off the bed and poke her eyes out. I probably wouldn't be successful anyway.

"Why are you here?" Damon growled again. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Not everything is about you, Damon," Katherine purred. "I'm here to talk to your new blood bag. Girl talk. You know."

Fear coursed through me. Capturing Katherine's interest was not good for one's health. There was no one that inspired as much hatred in me as Katherine. I wanted nothing to do with her. Fortunately, Damon seemed to be operating on the same page.

"You're not talking to her. Leave. Now," Damon said angrily, malice dripping from his words.

"Don't be hasty, Damon. I'm talking to her, regardless of what you say. Whether it be today or tomorrow, Elena and I are going to have a little chat, and I can promise you that you would rather it be today," Katherine said. The threat in her voice was almost tangible.

"Leave," Damon hissed dangerously.

Damon and Katherine squared off. They both watched each other for any violent intent or openings before evidently deciding that none existed. The furious look on Katherine's face – my face – did not bode well for any of us. As quickly as her malevolent expression appeared, however, it was gone.

She shrugged, "Fine. We'll talk tomorrow, Elena."

In a show of supernatural speed, Katherine disappeared out the door. The lingering scent of her perfume was the only physical evidence that she had ever been in the room.

Damon and I stared at one another in shock and horror. Katherine was back.

**A/N: Are there any words that when you're reading a fic just completely take you out of the moment? For me it's "wench." Whenever I'm reading smut and someone uses the word wench, I have to take a moment to wonder if I stumbled upon a pirate fic or a story about a tavern maiden in disguise. Thoughts?**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you to Princessrae91285 for betaing!**

Damon's POV

There weren't that many people I could tolerate in the world and even fewer I could like. I could tolerate the majority of people in Elena's life. Some people pushed my limits, but I just had to roll my eyes and move on from their idiocy. Stefan was a crapshoot, but sometimes I could stand to be in his presence. I actually liked Jenna. I did not adore her, but she had some good qualities and looked out for Elena's best interests. I liked Alaric, and I liked Elena. List complete.

Fucking John Gilbert did not make either of those lists. Was he technically a person in Elena's life? Sure. Did that make a difference in the long run? Hell no. He was possibly the most combative asshole I currently had to deal with. He wasn't usually in town, having opted to live outside the limits of Mystic Falls – a decision that raised his life expectancy significantly – but when he was in Mystic Falls, my limits were severely tested.

He understood vampires, however, and he was something of an ally at least where Elena was concerned. These two factors combined earned him a phone call that Katherine was in town, and he should be on guard. I did not, however, call and invite him to a powwow. He invited himself. Thus, I found myself sitting in the Gilbert living room next to Elena, while a frantic Jenna paced around the room and an irritating John Gilbert screamed in my face. Jeremy to his credit chilled in an arm chair without comment.

"Sending her away like that was stupid! Now we have to be on the defensive at all times!" John ranted, his beady eyes bulging disturbingly.

"Playing whatever twisted game she concocted is stupid. All I did was make clear that we won't be playing ball," I insisted, feeling as if I had repeated the same sentiment a dozen times now.

"Just how dangerous is Katherine exactly?" Jenna asked. "Should we be afraid for our lives?"

"She's very dangerous, Jenna. That is why we need to be careful," Elena explained.

"Listen," I said. "Katherine clearly wants something from Elena. Hurting you or Jeremy would be counterproductive. She knows that we would kill her."

"Katherine is an older vampire than you. How do you know you could kill her?" John sniped.

"Well, I wouldn't go alone. I planned to bring the history teacher with me," I said.

"Wait, you can't do that," Jenna interrupted. "If Katherine is as dangerous as you guys say, Alaric should stay out of it. He's human like us."

I rolled my eyes, "You can't break me and Alaric up. We're like a superhero duo. Like…well I can't think of one off the top of my head, because Batman and Robin are lame, but you understand the gist."

Jenna turned away in exasperation, and John turned to console her. Elena, sensing an opportunity, gently caressed my thigh. It was a silent thank you for putting up with her irritating father-uncle-hybrid. I sighed a gentle release and willed myself to relax. A glance to my left revealed Jeremy aiming a rather shrewd look at us. Elena had mentioned that he was developing suspicions about the nature of our relationship. We were going to have to tackle that hurdle soon. Hopefully, we could finish the drama with Katherine first.

"What exactly is your plan, Damon, since you seem so confident?" John demanded.

"Thanks for asking, buddy. I'm planning on waiting to see what Katherine does next. She might not actually want anything with Elena. She usually hides behind half a dozen smoke screens, and I don't see why now should be any different. History says Elena won't turn out to be her target. So let's just wait and stay on guard for now.

"Waiting? She has been invited into this home. There is nothing stopping her from bursting through the door this second," John practically spit in retaliation.

"I didn't know it was her!" Jenna all but shouted, clearly upset over her major slip up after the Founder's Day Parade.

Any further shenanigans were cut off by the door bell. Jenna stared at the door as if worried she had brought Katherine down upon us all, and John wore an expression of deep suspicion.

"Guys, Katherine doesn't use the doorbell," I mocked.

"It's probably Bonnie and Caroline," Jeremy offered from his seat.

Jenna walked away to answer the door, and everyone looked at Jeremy quizzically.

He shrugged and said, "I thought they should know what's going on to. Katherine went after Caroline more than once before, and Bonnie could be our best chance at beating Katherine."

"Now that is how to develop a plan," John said, complimenting Jeremy while attempting to crush me in the process.

I gave a half-smile to John, but my eyes were brimming with a challenge. John returned the expression to the best of his abilities. The man couldn't hope to portray rakish disdain with the same ease I did. I was still the master.

Bonnie and Caroline entered the room. Jenna was leaving a noticeably wide berth between herself and Caroline. She wasn't as immune to her discovery of vampires as she liked to pretend. If Caroline noticed, she dismissed it.

"Hey, Bon, thanks for coming," Jeremy said, leaping out of his chair to offer Bonnie his seat. The couple exchanged a quick kiss and mumbled 'I love you's' and 'I've missed you's.' Sometimes having super hearing was a curse.

Caroline sat down dramatically next to Elena on the couch and announced, "I am so done with Katherine. No matter how many times we think we've dealt with her she just keeps coming back. She's like the most irritating pimple to ever exist."

"I'm not her biggest fan either," Elena muttered in agreement.

"Bonnie do you have anything to offer?" I asked, breaking up the mushy teenage couple.

Her brow furrowed, "I'm not sure. I can look through the Grimoire for potential spells. Katherine is immune to my usual defense against vampires, so I'll have to be creative."

"Last time she had a witch working for her," Elena said. "What if that happens again? We need to be prepared for Bonnie to face the witch."

"The witch she was working with before is no longer an issue. Trust me," Bonnie said confidently. "I think Katherine is alone on this one."

"Okay, meeting adjourned," I said.

"That's it?" Caroline asked. "We spent like ten seconds talking about it."

"You can feel free to talk about it to your heart's content. I'm going to call Ric and see how his weapon gathering is going.

I honestly had little desire to call Ric. If anything worth mentioning happened, he would text me. No, I was hoping that Elena would follow me upstairs and into her room. Secret trysts her bedroom seemed to be the nature of the game these days. It was so very high school.

Like clockwork, Elena followed me up the steps, cradling my hand in her own.

"I'm not positive just waiting for Katherine is the brightest idea," Elena admitted as we entered her bedroom. "The more time we give her to think, the harder it will be to stop her. If you recall, she has a plan for every letter of the alphabet."

"I think that was an exaggeration on her part," I chuckled.

"I would not put it past her," Elena grumbled.

"And I would put nothing past you," I said with a smirk.

"What does that mean?" Elena said with a laugh to denote her confusion.

"It means that you, Elena Gilbert, are a minx. Luring me up to your bedroom whilst your father and maiden aunt sit downstairs worrying about your welfare. It's positively scandalous," Damon laughed.

Elena punched me in the arm, "If you remember, I followed _you_up here."

"You were sending me signals with your eyes," I countered.

"That's unlikely since I was looking at Caroline," Elena said.

I shrugged amicably, "Caroline is always free to join us."

That earned me another punch in the arm, but Elena was smiling widely. She could pretend all she liked, but Elena secretly loved my antics.

Snaking my arm around her waist, I pulled Elena in abruptly so that she collided with my chest. Our bodies made a muffled 'omf' sound, and Elena looked at me with startled eyes. I leaned in and kissed her lips, running the tip of my tongue along the crease of her mouth. Elena obediently opened her mouth so that my tongue could dart inside. She had the softest lips I could ever remember kissing. They were just lush and giving, yielding to my own when appropriate but pressing fiercely when arousal began to course through her body.

Elena broke the kiss and nipped my jaw hungrily. The scrape of her teeth was erotic, and I began to grow hard. Light kisses were peppered up and down my neck, and she laved my pulse point with her tongue.

"Wait won't Caroline be able to hear us?" Elena asked concerned.

I was not in the mood to stop our festivities. If the entire household heard her screaming my name, I would be hard pressed to care.

"If we're quiet, no one will ever know," I assured her. The truth was that if Caroline tried to listen upstairs, she would hear our tell tale breathing and grunts regardless of how we tried to muffle them, but the likelihood of her trying was low.

Uncharacteristically, Elena was wearing a dress today. It was a summery dress covered in flowers that flowed from a cinched waist beautifully. She turned around to present her zippered back to me, and my heart nearly stopped. I loved lowering a zipper, slowly revealing the unmarked skin of a woman's back more than most things in life. It was just such an erotic tease. Since Elena rarely wore dresses, I had never had the opportunity to exercise my desire upon her. Until now.

With steady fingers, I lowered the zipper inch by painstaking inch. Every bit of newly exposed tan skin called to me. I stopped periodically to run my fingers lightly across the flawless flesh before continuing with the zipper. When I grazed my fingers teasingly across the skin of her lower back, Elena gave a pleasured shudder. Finally, the dress dropped to the floor.

I stepped forward to kiss the back of her sloping neck. Elena sighed and arched to the side to provide more ideal access. My hands kneaded the firm flesh of her ass, which was partially covered by black boyshorts. I rubbed my covered groin against her ass and listened as Elena tried to muffle a moan.

She spun around and unclipped her bra hurriedly. Her hands were immediately tugging at my shirt, tearing it from my body and throwing it across the room. With teeth and nails, she attacked my chest, leaving red marks along my muscled torso. My eyes closed and my head rolled back in pleasure when her nails scratched brutally across my nipples. Her hands grappled with my pants, unbuttoning and pulling them from my body. I willingly stepped out of them and opened my eyes long enough to note that she had removed her underwear. I quickly slid off my boxers so that our naked bodies could meld together.

Elena collapsed onto the bed, and I followed making sure to land off to the side so as not to crush her tiny body. Taking advantage of our position, I flipped Elena onto her side, her back snugly pressed against my chest. Understanding my desires, Elena lifted her outer leg into the air. With a firm thrust, I pushed my cock between her spread legs and into her tiny opening.

Elena gasped sharply as the intrusion was rather sudden. Usually, I gave her far more preparation before entering her. Elena's walls fluttered deliciously around my cock, making me growl in her ear. While her pussy had not been particularly wet when I first entered, her juices quickly started to flow, soaking my cock and allowing for easier entrance.

I set a mild tempo, slowly pulling in and out so that she could feel every inch of my cock sliding through her pussy. While my pace was slow, I made sure to thrust as deeply as I could. At the end of each thrust, I would snap my hips forward until my groomed pubic hair brushed against her wet lips.

Displaying her left over flexibility from cheerleading, Elena's extended leg never faltered. She managed to keep the leg perfectly straight and aimed at the ceiling even as I thrust into her willing body. Even her toe was perfectly pointed. It was exquisite to watch the strain of her muscles as she worked to keep herself spread for me.

Tired of the slow tease which was my pace, I started to thrust into her body harder and faster than before. Elena gasped and clutched at her leg in order to keep it straight. It was increasingly different to mute the sounds of our lovemaking. On every third thrust, I was hitting the bundle of nerves within Elena's pussy that usually made her scream like a maniac.

Elena's passage shuddered and clenched like a vise as she came. The juices that escaped in a flood from her body settled thickly on her thighs and my dick. She gasped and grunted, nibbling on her lip in a futile attempt to stay quiet. For a moment, I thought her contracting walls would send me over the edge, but sheer will power kept my balls from exploding.

I flipped Elena onto her back. Her body moved easily in the aftermath of her orgasm. Now, I opted for the traditional missionary position so that I could see her pleasure drenched face. I leaned into her so that our foreheads were but a breath apart and thrust. Her mouth formed a pretty 'o' even as her eyes remained misty and unfocused. As I moved sinuously above her, I could watch as Elena slowly awoke from her stupor. Newly aroused, she tilted her hips upward to meet my own, creating a stronger impact. Six thrusts in this manner were all that it took to make me release myself inside her.

I gave a few, last thrusts as the pleasure overwhelmed me, before pulling out completely sated. Elena mewled in dissatisfaction at having been denied a second orgasm. Her greedy hands grabbed my softening cock and brought it back to her pussy. I groaned as Elena none too lightly slapped the tip of my cock against her swollen clit, holding her pussy lips open with her other fingers. My cock was far too sensitive after cumming for that kind of treatment. Elena, however, loved it. She gasped with pleasure after each light spank to her little pink clit. After a terribly long minute, during which my dick almost cried at the pain, Elena finally came, rubbing the tip of my cock against her pussy frantically.

"You are a scary woman," I panted, cradling my abused manhood in my hands.

"I can't help that I love your cock," Elena whispered devilishly.

We dressed slowly, too lazy and exhausted to hurry. Elena took a ludicrous amount of time reapplying her makeup. She looked thoroughly fucked, so it was probably a good idea. When we finally looked presentable, we trudged back downstairs.

When we arrived, everyone was standing around an envelope which lay on the coffee table. Jenna and John were eyeing the envelope like it might explode at any minute.

"This just arrived," Jeremy said, pointing at the traditional envelope.

"Someone knocked and when we opened the door it was just lying on the porch," Bonnie added.

"Like UPS?" asked Elena.

"UPS drivers can't move that fast. More like vampire," Bonnie said.

John looked at me speculatively, "Shouldn't you have heard the knock on the door?"

"I was distracted," I said edgily not easing John's suspicion.

"He wouldn't have heard because we were being noisy. The only way he would notice was if he was purposefully eavesdropping," Caroline said quickly, her words running together. Her cheeks were stained pink from blushing. Was it too much to hope that Caroline had not overheard Elena and I screwing each other's brains out? Probably since Caroline was avoiding eye contact with me and Elena. _Great_.

"We thought you should open it, Damon," Jenna said.

Shrugging, I reached for the envelope and was about to open it when Elena's arm darted out to stop me.

"Wait! What if it's filled with vervain or something? Let me," she ordered.

"And what if there is something in there to hurt you?" I countered.

"That's unlikely," Elena scoffed. "Katherine probably has easier access to vervain than anthrax. Just let me handle this."

Knowing better than to pick an obviously losing battle, I held my hands up in surrender and passed Elena the envelope. She smiled sweetly in response. Without hesitation, she tore into the envelope and pulled out what a single photograph, which she promptly dropped to the floor.

The look in Elena's eyes in that moment was one of absolute horror and shock. Unimaginable pain flit across her expression before she abruptly collapsed. I sped to her in an instant and caught her body before it could hit the ground. John was on my heels and quickly appropriated Elena from my grasp. Together, we set her down on the couch. Tears streamed down her face from unblinking eyes.

"Oh my god," Bonnie whispered brokenly. She now held the photograph in her hand.

"What is it?" I demanded.

I snatched the photograph from Bonnie's hand, and my heart froze. It was a picture of Matt. More specifically it was a picture of Matt's head which was no longer attached to his body. The words 'We'll talk soon' had been scrawled across the picture in red ink.

"Maybe it's photo-shopped," I said hoarsely, but I didn't believe it. Katherine had killed Matt in retaliation for Elena ignoring her. And now all I wanted was to stop the pain from reaching Elena, but that was impossible.

"Let me see it?" Caroline said, still unaware of what had occurred.

"No, Caroline you don't want to see…" Bonnie protested.

Before anyone could stop her, she sped across the room and grabbed the photograph from my hands. And cue the waterworks. Tears came fasters than comprehension.

"I don't understand," Caroline whimpered.

Sympathy was not one of my strongest traits, but even I felt a pang of sorrow for the blonde. Her bottom lip quivered and salty tears streamed down her face, wreaking havoc on her eyeliner. She tried to wipe at her eyes, but only managed to further smudge her makeup across her cheeks.

"Caroline," Bonnie said, moving forward with open arms to hug her friend.

"I don't…I don't understand," Caroline sobbed.

Her eyes were tiny, tear-filled slits, and her mouth hung open as sob after sob poured forth. She let Bonnie hug her, crumpling into her friends arms. Caroline was significantly taller than Bonnie so the logistics were not perfect, but Caroline laid her head upon Bonnie's shoulder and cried as if her heart would burst. Elena, despite her own sorrow, leapt to her feet and joined the huddle. She and Bonnie cradled Caroline between them as they cried their sorrow together.

I would need to call Liz first thing. Damage control was necessary. Also, I wanted to confirm that the photo was real on the off chance that Katherine was only tricking us to be a bitch. That's what I wanted.

The truth was, Matthew Donovan was dead. And it was all my fault.

Elena stood unmoving beside the grave. The ceremony had not been opulent – Matt's meager savings could not afford much. As it was, Carolyn Lockwood had needed to spend some of her own money in order to make ends meet for the sparsest of funerals. The old crowd had all been in attendance to hear the preacher's solemn address. Bonnie had stood off to the side, holding Jeremy's hand and casting me dirty looks as if I was somehow to blame. The witch was always happy to lump all vampires together into a big, guilty mass. Judging from the vacant look in Jeremy's eyes, I was pretty sure Jeremy was thoroughly stoned, so his reaction could not be properly determined. Caroline, looking less presentable than I had ever seen in a wrinkled black dress, had cried almost hysterically. She alternated between seeking comfort from Liz and Tyler Lockwood, who I was not too pleased to note was officially back in Mystic Falls. On any other occasion, the wolf would probably be thrilled to have the opportunity to grope Caroline, but having just lost his closest friend, he didn't appear to be in the mood. Alaric stayed by my side, displaying the appropriate amount of sorrow.

Matt had been a popular kid –handsome, athletic, friendly, freakishly sincere. Given his status at Mystic Falls High, it was no surprise that nearly the entire school was in attendance. Some kids looked at Matt's tombstone with morbid fascination, while others cried dramatically about how close they were to Matt which warranted irritated glares from Caroline and Tyler, his true friends.

Even Kelly Donavan managed to attend. She wept bitterly, her every breath reeking of alcohol. The funeral had been arranged in record time – within thirty hours of the death – so everyone was surprised that Kelly had arrived in time. Her estrangement from Matt had long been a subject of gossip in the community. No one cared to delay the funeral for her benefit alone.

It bothered me to see Elena go through this again. Her silent tears made something painful stir in my chest. I wanted to hug her and cover her hair with kisses as she cried into my chest, but I couldn't. Outing our relationship during the funeral would only serve as an additional source of stress.

The funeral had finally ended, and everyone, for the most part, had trekked back to their cars and left the graveyard. Part of me wanted to leave as well. Matt Donovan had not been my favorite person in the world. I would not miss him on his own merit. Elena, however, was showing no signs of wanting to leave. She had yet to move from her spot, staring at his grave while the tears flowed down her currently ashen cheeks.

I was the one who had blown Katherine off, telling her to leave us alone. I had been so confident, telling everyone that we could wait Katherine out, as if she was harmless, a mere irritant. If we had moved quicker, I would not be watching Elena cry over a tombstone. I was right in not letting her talk to Katherine. Of that I was sure. Protecting Elena always had to be my first priority, but there were other threats other than the physical. Katherine had gutted her emotionally, and I was defenseless to stop the damage.

Elena finally moved away from her solemn vigil to pay her respects to Caroline. The girls hugged, whispering words of comfort in one another's ears. Tyler Lockwood received similar attention, while Kelly Donovan only warranted a quick half-embrace.

To my surprise, Elena approached me next. She hugged me, more briefly than I would have liked, but still sweetly. I could smell the sweetness of her shampoo and the faintest whiff of laundry detergent emanating from her freshly pressed black dress. Holding Elena's hand, I walked her back to my car in order to drive her home.

"You need to call her," Elena said emptily after she was buckled into the passenger seat.

I did not need to be told that Elena was referring to Katherine.

"We don't know what she'll do next, Elena. It might not be safe," I said.

Elena glared at me through eyes red from crying, "I don't care, Damon. Make the call right now."

"This second?"

"This second," Elena confirmed. "I want to watch you do it. I don't trust you when you think you're protecting me."

Fair enough, I thought grimly. I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I reached Katherine's last known number. Resigned, I pressed dial. She answered almost immediately.

"Was the ceremony sad?" Katherine chirped from the other line.

"I'm not exactly in the mood to chat," I bit out acerbically.

"Aww," Katherine pouted. "Did seeing Elena sad make you upset? I'm sorry."

"What do you want, Katherine?" I growled.

She sighed loudly enough that I could hear it through the receiver, "I want to speak to Elena privately, and I think she will be more inclined to talk, now that I've made it clear how high the stakes are."

"Or maybe I won't let her within one hundred miles of you after the stunt you just pulled," I snapped.

Elena tensed up beside me and shook her head vigorously.

"I doubt Elena would like that. You talk a big game, Damon, but you would fall apart if Elena truly hated you. You're fragile like that," Katherine laughed.

"When and where?" I questioned unhappily.

"I want Elena to meet me at the Fell tomb tonight at eleven," Katherine said. I could picture the smile on her face as she predicted her victory.

"Done."

"And Damon," Katherine purred. "She better come alone."

"You don't have to do this," I argued for what felt like the millionth time in a few short hours.

"Yes I do," Elena declared adamantly. "Katherine wants to talk to me, and it would be stupid and irresponsible to just ignore her again."

"Look around," I shouted, gesturing wildly at the darkened cemetery which we were currently parked in. "What about this looks like a safe idea. Heading out to meet a violent, centuries old vampire in a cemetery is reckless."

I had employed every trick in the book to convince Elena that meeting Katherine was a poor choice. It was almost eleven o'clock, and I had driven Elena to the cemetery for her confrontation with Katherine. Once Elena left my car, I had to accept reality and wait for her to return. Following her was a sure way to force Katherine's hand and would have dangerous consequences.

"Damon, we don't have any more time to argue about this. Katherine is expecting me."

"I can't just wait for you here," I said.

There was the crux of the matter. Watching her walk away to meet her fate alone would all but kill me. Every second would be filled with the horrifying reality that she might not come back. How could she expect me to patiently wait while she strode off to her possible executioner? If she died, and I was not there to save her…I could not stand feeling so helpless.

"Damon," Elena said softly, placing her hands against my jaw. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"All I care about is your safety," I admitted.

Elena gave me a watery smile, and combed her fingers through my hair. "I couldn't live with myself, if Katherine hurt anyone else I loved because of me. I can barely stand what she did to Matt. I've never felt so broken. This is something I need to do. Please respect that."

She was right. It was a difficult lesson to learn, but if I truly loved Elena, I had to accept every part of her. Elena was fiercely loyal and willing to sacrifice herself for the people she cared about. Our relationship would never work if I focused all my energies on changing that about her. It wasn't a small characteristic like an obnoxious chewing gum habit; it was an intrinsic part of her personality. To stifle her protective urges would be to stifle her as a person.

I kissed her fiercely. Our lips moved together, but it was the feelings that mattered. I wanted her to understand my epiphany and realize just how much it hurt me to let her go. I wanted her to feel how much I trusted her.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you, too," Elena whispered back, and I thought I saw tears in her eyes as she pulled away.

Elena's POV

It was difficult, but I forced my feet to trudge slowly forward down the gravel path. Most of the pathways leading through the cemetery were paved, but the Fell tomb was old and few people wanted to visit it. As a result, the path was treacherous in the dark with perilous dips and upturned stones that threatened my steps.

Especially after the stress of today from burying Matt, I had no desire to spend my time in a graveyard. Asking to meet here was the ultimate psych out. Despite my disgust with both the location and Katherine herself, I had to keep walking because Katherine was ruthless.

A part of me, no matter how much my rational mind protested, blamed myself for not giving in to Katherine's demands sooner. It was always a mistake to think we could outmaneuver Katherine, and my foolishness had cost Matt his life. When my parents had died, I felt numb. I was so unfamiliar with death, that I could not entirely comprehend the repercussions. Yes, I knew that my parents were gone forever, but knowing and understanding were not the same thing. It took months before I stopped waking up thinking my parents were downstairs making breakfast. It took months before I no longer had the urge to text my mother whenever something exciting happened in my life. Matt's death was different because I understand death's true face now. I wasn't cold and numb. I burned.

There was a strange feeling stirring in my gut that was unfamiliar whenever I thought of Katherine. It didn't take much reflection to recognize that I sought revenge. I wanted to hurt Katherine the way she had hurt everyone in my life countless times. Who was she to indiscriminately wreak havoc on people's lives and murder innocents without punishment? The smartest plan of action would be to give in to Katherine's demands in the hopes that she left to terrorize some other poor town, but I couldn't stomach the thought. She needed to be stopped. For once, I didn't want Katherine dead because she was a threat to me. My mind screamed for Katherine's head on a pike because my desire for justice and vengeance needed to be satisfied.

Arriving at the Fell tomb, I noticed that the stone door had been pushed open and could see nothing but black emptiness inside. Adrenaline, familiar and reassuring, coursed through my body, steeling my nerves for whatever was in store. It had been a long time since I had been filled with this much fear.

I stepped inside and exhaled in relief when fangs did not immediately descend upon my neck. There was no light inside the tomb, so I could not tell if Katherine was present. I had not realized on my walk that the moon was absent tonight. I pulled out my cell phone and scrambled to type in my password. Quickly scanning the screen, I found the flash light app and activated it. The tomb was immediately lit enough to reveal Katherine slouching casually against the wall opposite me.

She looked smug and arrogant, the corner of her mouth teased up into a grin. If she was human, I would have clawed her eyes out with my fingernails, just to wipe that terrible expression from her face. As she was a vampire and I valued my life, however, I decided to err on the side of caution.

"Thanks for meeting me," Katherine said.

She paused waiting for my response, but I had no intention of giving her one. I would not bother playing her games.

"So quiet, Elena," Katherine cooed. "Are you mad at me? Is it because of poor Matt? He died quickly you know."

Every muscle in my body down to my toes tensed. It was almost hard to hear her words because the blood was rushing through my ears so quickly. Rage unlike I had never experienced was starting to bubble beneath the surface of my being.

"I suppose you're wondering what I have to say that's so important." Katherine continued. "I'll give you three guesses."

_Do not let her bait you_, I repeated as a mantra to ward off Katherine's taunts. She would enjoy any emotional response I gave, and I would not pleasure her with my pain.

"This is probably not a surprise, but I've been fucking Stefan. Quite vigorously. His unhealthy appetite for blood also translates into an unhealthy appetite for me," Katherine purred. "It was surprising to see how quickly you jumped into bed with Damon. And you judge me for wanting brothers."

A dozen responses flit through my mind, but I refused to speak them. It was enough that I knew I was different. I did not sleep with Stefan and Damon at the same time, and I was not leading either of them on. Justifying myself to Katherine would only let her know that it was a sore subject. _Do not let her bait you._

"That's why I'm here actually, for Stefan. You see, no matter how hard I try, he maintains an irritating attachment to you," Katherine said, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. "And that's proving to be a problem for me."

My eyebrows raised incredulously, "Are you saying that you've done all of this – killed Matt – because Stefan doesn't love you enough?"

"You don't have to sound so surprised," Katherine muttered. "I am bringing Stefan back to Mystic Falls, and you are going to crush his heart into a million pieces. I didn't foresee that you would be fucking Damon, but that should make the process a lot simpler."

"You killed Matt to better your love life!" I screamed.

Katherine's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Throughout our every interaction I had never lost my cool enough to yell. In fact, there were only a few times in my life that I had felt propelled to scream, and this was the topper. The banality of Katherine's motivation for murdering Matt was unthinkable!

"Why should I do a fucking thing for you? I do what you say so that you can walk off into the bloody sunset with Stefan? How dare you!" I shrieked.

Katherine's hand wrapped around my throat before I could distinguish that she had moved. My head slammed into the wall painfully. The ominous veins swirling around Katherine's eyes were a warning that I should shut up for my own safety.

"You will do what I say because there are a lot of people in this town you love other than Matt, and each one is equally disposable. I'm not playing around, Elena. I killed Caroline once, and despite all of her posturing, I could easily do it again. The witch is no match for me either, and as for your brother…it would be a minor nuisance to rip off his ring and bleed him out all over your carpet," Katherine hissed in my face.

It was growing increasingly difficult to concentrate as my energy ebbed. Throughout her tirade, Katherine had not lessened the pressure to my neck. I had not taken in a full gulp of air in far too long.

"I want Stefan so devastated that he loses control and attacks you right then and there. You or Damon. I suppose it doesn't matter," Katherine continued. "But I want the job done thoroughly, and if the ripper isn't released, you aren't trying hard enough."

To my relief, Katherine released her hold on my neck. I fell to the floor, gulping huge amounts of oxygen into my system. My head spun from the dizziness.

"We'll be in town soon, Elena," Katherine warned and disappeared from the tomb.

I sat shivering on the floor, feeling as if the walls were collapsing in on me. I tried to organize my thoughts, but they remained stubbornly jumbled. Step one, I needed to meet up with everyone and develop a plan for destroying Katherine. Step two, I must convince Stefan to move on, because I couldn't risk infuriating Katherine more before we were ready to take her out.

Step three…I needed to survive Stefan.

**A/N: Excuse me while I cry hysterically over Matt. Why did I do that? He's one of my favorites. I think this proves that I am a sick human being.**

**Please review, I love your opinions (:**


	20. Chapter 20

This isn't a new chapter just a really long author's note about why I haven't been posting since I keep getting new followers and reviews asking me to update, and I've started to feel bad.

Basically, I will never be finishing this story so at the end of this note I'll give you a quick summary of what would have happened had I continued for closure for anyone who is interested.

* Damon refuses to allow Elena to confront Stefan because he is worried about her safety. Elena and Caroline team up to poison Damon with vervain because they are both desperate to protect the town and Caroline doesn't care much about Damon's personal safety.

* Elena meets Stefan and tells him about Damon. They have an argument. Stefan punches a wall. Dramatic talking ensues. Stefan leaves on an ambiguous note where you don't know if he is going to side with Katherine or not.

* Damon and Elena have a huge fight about the vervain. Damon says he's leaving town.

* Katherine kidnaps Caroline. They have a scene alone together. Katherine tells Caroline she should be grateful that she turned her because it has made her a better person. Caroline spits on her and tells her that she was always awesome and owes her nothing.

* Elena shows up to save Caroline. Stefan arrives and Katherine plays on his bloodlust to get him to kill Elena. At the last moment, Stefan turns on her and they start to fight. Elena releases Caroline. Damon arrives and jumps into the fray. Elena is super relieved to see him until she realizes that Katherine is winning and Damon's life is in danger.

* Bonnie appears and uses magic to incapacitate Katherine. Damon and Stefan walk away now that she is down to figure out what to do with her since neither is entirely comfortable with killing her. Elena grabs a stake and drives it through Katherine's heart while they maintain eye contact (Note: I love Katherine but I love the doppelganger mythology and the idea of one consuming the other because the existence of one threatens the very personhood of the other)

* Elena, Damon, and Stefan exchange a bunch of horrified and meaningful glances with one another.

* Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline go to Elena's house because Jenna is on a date with Ric. Bonnie steals some of Jeremy's pot and they all get high. Caroline is adorable because she gets super charged on it and talks a lot and sometimes cries over silly things but never stops smiling. Bonnie gets really touchy-feely and keeps stroking her friends faces. Elena is beyond chill and able to just enjoy the moment. All the girls are happy because for the first time they feel completely safe and like everything is over. They don't talk about the boys at all (except to celebrate Matt and to hint that maybe Caroline and Tyler might be a thing now though Caroline says it's too soon) but instead really reaffirm their friendship and focus on each other in a way they haven't been able to do since before vampires came to Mystic Falls.

* The next day Elena meets Stefan and they talk about their relationship and their lives. Elena admits that she doesn't think they can ever work out even though she will always love him because a part of her will always blame him for everything that happened. Stefan understands and decides he's going to do some traveling and try to find a place for himself in the world. Elena wishes him good luck as tears fall from her eyes and kisses him on the cheek. This is the last time they'll see each other for a long time.

* Elena goes to the boarding house where Damon is asleep and crawls in bed with him.

* Damon wakes up to find Elena and is surprised because he thought they would be over now that Stefan was back. Elena tells Damon that he can't make decisions for her because that's not how

relationships work and that he can't just threaten to run away when things get tough. Damon agrees but also says that Elena can't turn to others to take him down, especially physically. They both come to terms with the fact that they're still working on their relationship but still love each other.

* Smut scene. Use your imaginations.

* Happily ever after.

It's been a slow progression, but I no longer ship Delena, which is why I can't actually write out this story for everyone. Essentially, I am an Elena stan first and foremost, and I can't ignore how abusive their relationship is in canon anymore. It was always somewhat abusive but I thought they were going to grow out of that, but if anything, I personally feel it has gotten worse. Also, looking back, I did a pretty terrible job of writing Elena's perspective and missed a lot of how she thinks and that kind of bothers me. And I made Caroline and Damon friends. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking with that.

You guys don't want me to write another chapter because if I did, it would probably be Elena tying Damon down so Bonnie and Caroline could kill him before Elena sets Stefan on fire. And no one wants to read that.

Still, sorry for everyone that has been waiting for an update. Thank you for all the feedback, and I hope you enjoyed the parts of the story I did write.


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